Compliance, i.e. adherence to rules, is in most cases regarded as a guarantee of success and safety. This understanding became established in the early 20th century, when Frederick Taylor gave his name to Taylorism, and it has persisted stubbornly ever since.
At the same time, however, we know that only 15–20% of all rules are (or can be) followed.
Whether on the road or in the workplace: people break rules and take shortcuts.
Why?
There are many reasons!
Whenever rules do not fit reality or the communicated system goals (e.g. efficiency/production vs. safety), are unknown, make no apparent sense or even contradict each other, compliance is undermined.
Or, as baseball coach Yogi Berra, who died in 2015, remarked:
“In theory there is no difference between theory and practice – in practice there is!”
For this reason, Black Elephant Advisory – in line with the findings of System Safety Science – stands for debureaucratisation in matters of safety.
Instead of countless internal guidelines that ultimately exist to define responsibilities in the event of damage, there should be a small number of supportive procedures that emerge meaningfully from the reality of work – procedures that everyone always follows without exception, that are simple, and that ensure more time remains for carrying out tasks to a high standard and safely and for mastering challenges.
And this is where commitment comes into play.
For while compliance refers bureaucratically to rules on paper, commitment means a genuine pledge – understanding safety not as the mere fulfilment of regulations, but living a culture of awareness, responsibility and continuous improvement.
From the safety science literature we know:
Organisations that reduce bureaucracy and rely on commitment instead are able to respond resiliently to new, unprecedented challenges.
“Safety is a verb”, as resilience researcher and system safety expert David Woods puts it.
Because only through constant doing, listening, exchanging, staying curious, building relationships, trusting and adapting can a system become safe and reliable.
And above all, this requires two things:
People who find creative solutions that are not written down on any piece of paper. – Without fear of being held accountable for breaking a rule if the outcome is not satisfactory.
and
An awareness of “work as done” and thus recognition of the actual, complex reality of work.
The Black Elephant team has been supporting hospitals in exactly this for more than 25 years.
We would be glad to support you too!