I live near a special effects school.  Every time I pass, it reminds me of the dramatic movie trailers we often watch at theatres before we view the show we paid to see.  Trailers are full of great visuals and entice us to watch the entire movie.  

On the outside, and from a distance, many organizations are like movie trailers. They’re attractive, but full of warts and wrinkles and challenges on the inside.  This becomes especially true the longer we hang around.  As a safety professional, throughout my 32-year career, I’ve seen many organizations and their movie trailers, but also hung around to watch the plot unfold.  Oftentimes the plots were not nearly as exciting as the trailers.  I’ve also stayed to watch the introduction with various roles that were cast and the actions that followed.  In safety, we need to ensure that our leaders take on appropriate roles and are held responsible for the types of actions that will form the right culture for their supporting cast – so they can work as safely as possible. 

If we remain throughout the rising action of our own organizational plots, we have to weave our way through political and organizational barriers so we can align it with the vision we’ve placed out in front.  This is hard work and many are not willing to grind it out.  After the rising and climax, the resolutions of our organizational efforts should be made clearer.  It’s here where we have to deliver the right programs, processes, interventions, and systems that keep the organization moving forward, closer to the vision for excellence in safety.

The challenge I’ve seen in many organizations is that people fall in love with the trailer and special effects without digging deeper, to smooth out the warts, wrinkles, and barriers throughout the plot, specifically within the resolution phase.  Many individuals don’t want to re-cast roles so leaders champion the rise and resolution in favor of safety and… 

It takes a tremendous amount of effort to move beyond what we see in the glitz and glitter of our brands, vision, and values.  It takes discipline and a disciplined-grind to re-cast leadership roles and work, so the plot is carried out in a way that moves our needle in the right direction, to get the “safety numbers” we’d like to see.   

I’ve also learned that we can get the “right numbers” when we don’t fall in love with the trailer but embrace the process and the plot.  And embracing a proven process leads to a much more appealing cast, movie, and rating that even the harshest of critics might have difficulties arguing against.