Habits drive much of our behavior. They often have a strong impact on our health and wellbeing. Habits can also drive a companies overall safety success, particularly what Charles Duhigg calls “keystone” habits in his book The Power of Habit Why We Do What We Do In Life and Business. It may not seem so from the title, but this book is an excellent “safety book.”
Duhigg uses the Alcoa turnaround from a company in the 1980s that was on a decline due to management missteps to one that rose to the top of the chemical market as a key example of how keystone habits can have a powerful impact on a company’s safety culture. In 1987 Paul O’Neil took over as Alcoa’s CEO. During his first talk as CEO before a ballroom full of all Alcoa’s major investors all he talked about was worker safety. It surprised everyone in the room. During his debut talk he even took a “safety moment” to point out the emergency exits and fire extinguishers.
Here’s a bit of what Duhigg writes about the event:
Someone raised a hand and asked O’Neill about the company’s capital ratios.
“I’m not certain you heard me,” O’Neill said. If you want to understand how Alcoa is doing, you need to look at our workplace safety figures. If we bring our injury rates down, it won’t be because of cheerleading or the nonsense you sometimes hear from other CEOs. It will be because the individuals at this company have agreed to be a part of something important. They’ve devoted themselves to creating a habit of excellence. Safety will be an indicator that we’re making progress in changing our habits across the entire institution. That’s how we should be judged.”
Love it!
The book isn’t mostly about safety of course, but even the parts that are about other topics it’s a book worth reading. I enjoyed it immensely and learned a few things that will help me form better habits. Let me know if you’ve read anything lately that you enjoyed and found helpful.
‘till next time.
Richard Hawk
