How to Tame Your Safety Dragons

Strategies to Eliminate Problem Workers

HOW TO TAME YOUR SAFETY DRAGONS

HOW DOES THIS WORK?

Think about the movie “How to Train Your Dragon” ©

• Vikings as your leadership teams

• Dragons as your frontline safety “problem” workers

• Livestock as your company profits

© 2013 DREAMWORKS ANIMATION

PLOT

• In the movie:• Dragons steal livestock, Vikings battle Dragons to protect

livestock, nobody really wins

• Translated loosely into the workplace:• Problem workers steal profits, leaders battle problem

workers to protect profits, nobody really wins

STAR OF THE MOVIE

• Son of the biggest, baddest Viking around• But he’s frail and weak, perhaps the “freak” of the village who

wants to try new ways

• And his name is of little help – Hiccup

• At the end of the day…• He becomes the hero through ingenuity and perseverance

• And he gets the girl!

HOW HICCUP SAVES THE VILLAGE• Our unlikely hero (Hiccup), injures the fiercest of the Dragons (Toothless)

known to the Vikings at that time

• Hiccup goes to kill Toothless, but morally can’t

• Hiccup helps Toothless regain confidence/ability to fly

• Hiccup learns the intimate inner workings of Dragons

• Hiccup becomes a Dragon “Trainer”

• Hiccup gets others Vikings to believe in his cause

• Toothless, Hiccup and other Vikings save the day

WHAT’S THIS GOT TO DO WITH SAFETY?

• Safety pro’s can be like our hero in many ways:• Take on greatest challenges – “night fury”

• Innovative – not afraid to try something new

• General lack of resources for the job

• Teased – for being the safety “cop”

• Strained relationship with bosses or executives

• Can feel like it’s “me against the world”

• Can duplicate Hiccup’s tactics to realize success!

HOW WE TAME OUR DRAGONS NOW

• React – just like Vikings fighting Dragons when they steal livestock – we’re not proactive• This leaves us worn out, with casualties continuing on both

sides and no clear winner

HOW WE TAME OUR DRAGONS NOW

• Attack the Nest – being proactive, hunting the Dragon’s nest to find the presumable “root cause”• In the movie, the Vikings ignore Hiccup’s advice about the

“true” root cause – the mega-dragon – because it’s not what the Vikings are looking for

• How many root cause analyses have we done in the same manner?

TRUE ROOT CAUSE: MEGA-DRAGON

• No Viking knows the “Red Beast” exists until found by Hiccup

• The other Dragons don’t like the Red Beast, but feel like they have no choice but to continue to serve it

• In order to feed the Red Beast, the Dragons have to steal livestock

• The movie reinforces true root cause analysis – kill the Red Beast and all is well – but we continually tend to find the convenient, most basic root cause – where the nest is

FORK IN THE ROAD

• At this point in the movie, there appear to be two likely outcomes:1. Vikings continue to push on by themselves and are destroyed by

the Red Beast

2. Somehow, someway, everyone comes together and defeats the common enemy

• In case you haven’t seen the movie yet intend to, you may wish to stop this presentation and go see the movie!

IT’S TIME FOR A NEW TACTIC

• The Besiege Tactic – when you have all resources dedicated to the problem – like the mega-dragon – you win• Instead of killing the Dragons, try befriending them

• Without befriending Toothless, Hiccup never finds the Red Beast

• Create tools to help the Dragons• Without fixing Toothless’ wing, Hiccup never makes him/her a friend

• Find allies willing to fight the mega-Dragon• Without help, Toothless and Hiccup never save the day

BENEFITS OF BESIEGE

• Adds peer pressure to conform

• Shows existing allies in the workforce that you care

• Shows them their opinions, ideas, etc. are important

• Creates new allies in the war against “Dragons”

WHY THIS TACTIC WORKS

• Gaining support from all rank and file

• Surrounding the true core issue – the cancer – with a cure

• Remember the end of the movie…• Dragons and Vikings work together to destroy a common enemy

• Dragon (Toothless) takes care of his/her own problem• This is what we want to happen in our workplaces!

HOW DO WE GET THERE?

• Do as many “little” things as possible to gain support throughout your organization• You need “allies” at all levels before you can Besiege

• Identify your target once you have enough allies

• Communicate why this Dragon must be slayed

• Get ideas from as many Vikings at as many levels as possible on how best to attack this Dragon

• Formulate a strategy, then execute it

SUMMARY

• Sometimes the greatest heroes and heroines come from the least likely of places

• Its not about killing all the Dragons, its about slaying the right Dragons

• Even when there appears to be no way to victory, surprise endings can still occur

• If you work as a team, you’ll get the girl…and perhaps more importantly, you’ll win the battle!

ABOUT USAssured Services is a safety consultancy firm headquartered in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.

We offer our expertise to improve outcomes through:

• Strategic Planning

• Risk Identification

• Systematic Improvement

• Workforce Development

Led by a National Safety Council award winning safety professional, we come equipped with a strong passion for obtaining outstanding results.

info@assuredservicesllc.com www.assuredservicesllc.com262.345.7955

Simplifying a Complex World