My friend and colleague, Dan Rockwell, introduced his blog followers to a little book that will not only change your personal life, but might have a demonstrable impact on your safety program. One Word that will Change Your Life by Jon Gordon, Dan Britton and Jimmy Page,1 states the reason we fail to realize our annual New Year’s resolutions is due to how we measure our success. As the authors note, “We set to-do goals instead of to-be goals. Success is measured by what we accomplish instead of who we become.”
Think about it. In safety we set safety goals every year to reduce injuries by some arbitrary number. We become fixated on meeting the numeric goal — and never focus on what the people in the organization could potentially become. If we meet the goal, management is ecstatic. If we don’t meet the goal, management goes apoplectic and looks for someone to sacrifice at the stake, usually in the safety department. Managers never once think their behavior is what likely led to not meeting the goal.