We All Have To Wear Diapers
/I was at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany years ago talking to a colonel about how mistakes are handled. “Yeah, it sounds like your company is becoming like the Air Force,” he said. “One person shits their pants, and we all have to wear diapers.”
I was taken aback by the comment, but I was glad he said it because it made me start thinking about how I and others handle what I term “human risk issues” in the workplace.
The military uses “stand downs” to put diapers on. Stand downs stop regular work to review processes and procedures after accidents or an accumulation of incidents. There had been a couple of incidents where I was at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii. The office I was in was near the Post theater, where the assemblies being held: one to discuss drinking and driving, the other suicide. My window was open and I could hear the soldiers’ comments as they passed by: they said things like “I am ready to get drunk after listening to that” and “I never thought about suicide but now I am.” While both assemblies tackled serious issues, I don’t believe hauling everyone in is the right approach.
These assemblies are an easy way to check the box and show that you did something about an issue -- sexual harassment, bullying, substance abuse, among others. But they miss the point of identifying individuals at risk and targeting an outcome around them. Nothing deflates an effort more than lectures and talk only to have actual incidents not handled appropriately.
I do not recall that the outcomes from the assemblies reduced the incidence of drunk driving or suicides at Schofield. However, I managed a mental health counseling program for military dependents in Europe, Panama, and the Pacific that resulted in no suicides of those involved in the program for over 30 years. What made the difference?
Our analysis was that we got the community to focus on risk, issues, and people -- all within the envelope of being proactive.
We identified risks for each community. At the middle and high school level, these included alcohol and drug use, bullying, harassment, and academic failure. Worldwide, we found that each community was unique and risk factors evolved as individuals and community leaders moved in and out.
We also identified issues within the community. This included noting community elements -- a commander, principal or others -- who knew of risks but did little to nothing about them. We have witnessed alcoholic principals ignoring drinking incidents with their sporting teams and commanders going through personal problems, such as a divorce, and not dealing with issues, even with their own teens being the cause of the problems. And it happens more than you realize. These are all sticky issues and even businesses fail in this arena.
Finally, if the community is turned on to the risks and issues, the focus then is early identification of individuals who may need help. Working with them hopefully starts the issue-resolution process for both the individual and community. As important, we found that any number of individuals could be a part of the recovery process -- a coach, minister, or mental health professional.
For anyone enrolled in our program, we instituted a process of measuring outcomes. With each session, we tracked how and where a person felt they were in terms of problem resolution. This gave the counselor and individual a tool to measure progress. In addition, we assessed how individuals thought the counselor was doing in assisting them with the issue. There was no guessing whether progress was being made.
This process takes work. It must be proactive. It is no different than quality control in building an airplane. You do not wait for a plane to drop from the sky to discover issues. You identify them, as well as the risks, and work them during design, manufacturing and test flights. It is all about risk management.
Many a career has failed trying to dodge risk issues, especially dealing with people. Human risk issues are easy to want to ignore. Instead, use them to exert good leadership and help staff when needed. A proactive and focused individual approach will get those needing assistance help, and prevent everyone else from having to wear diapers.
Pat