When someone does something we want, we often explain it by saying they were using their common sense, and when they don't, we explain it that they didn't use their common sense. Unfortunately, when we explain behaviour because of common sense, we explain nothing. 

ARTICLE

 Driver lacked 'common sense'

 By SHAHRA WALSH - The Press

A Christchurch rail bridge was struck by an oversized truck yesterday, the third time in nine months.

The truck became "wedged" about 10.30am yesterday under the Martindales Rd bridge in Heathcote, causing delays for railway operators, OnTrack bridge inspector Buzz Terrey said. The bridge is on the main line from the West Coast to Port Lyttelton.

The truck had to be cut into pieces and its tyres deflated so it could be removed. .

Speed restrictions were put in place for trains using the line as engineers braced the bridge with timber. The one-lane road under the bridge will be closed for up to a week.

Terrey said $40,000 worth of repairs and reinforcement work had only recently been completed on the bridge after it was hit in December.

It was also struck by a truck in June and before that in 2004 and 2005.

The owner of the transport company involved yesterday, Philip Wareing, said the driver was not hurt, but the truck's canopy was a "writeoff".

"It's just a lack of common sense; there were signs up to say [the clearance was] 3.75 metres and he's driven long enough to know he's four metres," Wareing said.

Superb Leaders Communicate Superbly. This is one of the things that happens when they don't.

ARTICLE

Chief Executives Lack Credibility - Study

By Julian Lee - The Age

An academic, a non-government organisation or a person on the street are regarded as more credible sources of information about a firm than its own chief executive, a study has found.

The picture was even worse for governments in an election year, because people were more likely to trust businessmen before politicians, the survey by public relations firm Edelman said. Only 38 per cent of high-income earners surveyed said they listened to what a firm's most senior executive had to say when they were formulating a view on a company.

But businesses can take heart that during the last year their standing has risen – in last year's survey the figure was only 19 per cent.

In the article below, the Coastguard describes people's at-risk behaviour as "crazy" and "human nature." I don't agree with the "crazy" but do agree with the "human nature." People see very clear positive outcomes for watching a tsunami rather than the negative outcomes for missing such an extraordinary and scarce event. In addition, we see the lack of antecedent control when the consequences do not support the desired response.

So, as is often the case, the positive outcomes follow the at-risk behaviour and the negative outcomes follow the safe behaviour. 

ARTICLE

Many Kiwis Ignore Tsunami Warnings

People heading to the beach to watch the tsunami are crazy, says the coastguard.

Coastguard Northern Region duty officer John Cowan, said today people heading to the beach should turn around and head the other way.

The tsunami warning for the east coast had little effect on many people on Auckland's North Shore who continued to head to the beach and head to sea in their boats.

Two women having coffee on Milford Beach said they had a good vantage point and another woman about to head out on a walk to Takapuna Beach said she had her flippers.

However, Mr Cowan said the warning should be heeded and people should head to high ground.

"Stay away from the beaches. Don't go out on the water and if you are already out on the water up anchor and head to deeper water at least half a mile off shore."

Mr Cowan said many boats were ignoring the warning and heading out to sea but many people spoken to up and down the East Coast Bays on Auckland's North Shore were unaware of the tsunami warning.

Mr Cowan said it appeared human nature was allowing people to head to the beaches for a vantage point.

 In practically every organisation I visit, I observe a feedback deficit. People aren't receiving the feedback they require. Even when management ask staff for feedback, all too often nothing comes back. For staff, this results in a perception of a lack of empowerment ("nothing I do makes a difference anyway"). Just as bad is the lack of feedback responding to customers. I wrote last week to F&P's customer care centre to communicate my annoyance at the delay in getting my appliance fixed (given this was the second problem in less than a month. Love the appliance when it works, problem is that this is somewhat infrequent). As of 5 days later, no response. My feedback has been lost in the organisational black hole. The effect? As a customer, I now perceive the customer care (customer ignore?) centre really isn't about caring for customers and since I have already bought the appliance there is absolutely no urgency to deal with me. You do an awful lot of harm if you actively solicit feedback, then completely ignore it - better off not even to ask for it. 

So then, if you want to dramatically improve your staff's performance and your customers' loyalty, don't just solicit feedback, actually listen and respond to it. 

I bought a Fisher and Paykel Dishdrawer in January which I couldn't use until two weeks after purchase. One week for delivery, and another week to replace it as it was broken before it was even out of  the box. Two weeks later it has broken down (well at least I got to use it this time). Now the interesting part isn't that it has broken twice within a few weeks, as bad as that is. What is interesting (and highly annoying) is that it can't be fixed for three days because the technician won't be over this side of town until then. I have clients (yes, that is plural) that will be at someone's house in under an hour if there is a problem. Here however, I have to work around the technician's schedule (and of course I don't even know the time so will be waiting around home) because it isn't convenient to drive here until three days time. Why is this? Is there only a horse and cart available? I doubt it. I think it is because the focus is on the input of what suits the organisation (have the technicians in one area) rather than on the output of serving the customer. So, hand washing dishes for me - mind you, am getting good at it ever since I bought this dishdrawer. 

And ... hasn't Fisher and Paykel had some problems over the last year? Hmmm, I have a suggestion or two for areas of improvement. 

Hospital staff unimpressed with pressie

Waitemata Health gives staff departmental phone list for Christmas for key ring; one nurse says it was worse than getting nothing 14 December 2009 


Staff at the country's worst performing hospital for waiting times have been given the bureaucratic equivalent of a lump of coal for Christmas.

In their pigeonholes they have found a "small token" of Waitemata Health's appreciation in the form of a handy departmental phone list, with all the hospital's vital extension numbers listed in a plastic cover with a tag. Some staff report the tag falls apart when an attempt is made to put it onto a key ring.

The apologetic note attached to the gift says sorry it cannot be anything bigger. One nurse says it was worse than getting nothing.<!--EndFragment-->

10 Lessons

1. Know your staff.

2. Sometimes doing nothing is better than doing something (especially if it is bad).

3. Always ask, "What will be the effects of this?"

4. How to anchor a bad memory rather than a good memory.

5. Does this demonstrate appreciation?

6. The intention for giving this gift is misaligned with how it was received.

7. One size present does not fit all.

8.  Its not about the money - spending more on a present could have got just as bad a reaction.

9. Something that breaks the first time is usually not received terribly well. 

10 Know your staff  - again, just in case you missed it as number one. 

This story appeared in Safeguard Update of 16 November.

Positive, immediate, certain

When people tell Dr Kyle McWilliams that their organisation has reached health and safety compliance, he invariably replies: “Well, that’s not very good is it?”

The reaction? “Their jaw drops,” he told delegates at the Conferenz inaugural Total Safety Culture conference in Auckland last month.

There are two types of job performance, he said, ‘just enough’ and ‘want to’. People who do just enough to keep their job are focused on compliance, the minimum level of performance. ‘Want to’ performance includes discretionary effort and is at a much higher level. “This is the one you want for safety.”

McWilliams, director of Christchurch-based consultancy Corporate Learning, said top performance will never be achieved if it is activated by the need for compliance. Instead, he advocated focusing on the consequences of behaviour, and on providing consequences that are positive, immediate, and certain.

Positive consequences are obviously beneficial, and consequences which are immediate and certain are much more powerful motivators than those which arrive in the future or are uncertain.

He asked delegates why they answered the phone. “Because it’s ringing,” came the response. No, he said, that is just the activator of the behaviour. The positive, immediate and certain outcome was that you get to speak to someone.

“Look towards the consequences rather than the activator. Activators have about 20% effect on behaviour. They kick-start it. Consequences have the other 80% effect.”

Health and safety policies, posters, emails, even training – these are all merely activators of behaviour. “If you want to improve behaviour, shift your focus to consequences.”

However, he cautioned that just because a consequence appeared to a worker to be positive, immediate and certain (PIC), didn’t mean it was a safe behaviour. Getting down from a large truck, for example, could be done unsafely by jumping, or safely by climbing down with three points of contact at all times. The trouble is, jumping takes less time and therefore appears to the driver to have PIC consequences.

“Safety is a constant struggle against human nature, because we are programmed to conserve energy. Lots of unsafe behaviours are PIC.”

McWilliams said we are good at identifying what we don’t want people to do. The key, he said, is to define the safe behaviours you want, then work out PIC consequences for them.

He advised looking at recent incidents and listing the behaviours associated with them, and then listing the alternative safe behaviours. “I practically guarantee you will find the unsafe behaviour was PIC because of the activator.”

If you want to change unsafe behaviours, he concluded, “you absolutely must focus on the behaviours you want, and you must provide positive, immediate and certain outcomes for this behaviour.”

 Was back at Eden Park last week. Take a look at the stand. What great progress they are making (compare to my earlier photos back in August) and look at how many cranes they have. I felt like a big kid in a sandpit full of toys. 

As of Friday 23 October, Millie and I are on the move. Decided it was time we needed a different view and a bit more space. The new address is 137 Clifton Terrace, Sumner, phone 03 326 4001. As part of the move, the accountant needed to do accounting "things" and so Corporate Learning will be no more. It will, however, be replaced with McWilliams Consulting. The only difference, as you can see, is the letterhead (and the new address). 

From this view ...

to this. 

My Westpac card is my secondary credit card, one which I use occasionally. The balance, as it has been for the last six months, is about $500 in credit. 

Yesterday, Westpac phoned me with a "courtesy" call asking if I would like payment insurance for my credit card (insurance which, should something happen, the bank would pay each month's minimum payment). I asked the Westpac person if anyone had bothered to actually look at the balance of the account, for if they did, they would have seen that the account has been in credit for several months. He said no one had. I asked why I would want insurance on an account which is always in credit. "Just in case,"  he replied. 

Value offered is only value if it is relevant. Irrelevant value is an oxymoron as it is not value at all, but rather an annoyance and a signal that you don't know your customer or client. 

What type of value are you offering to your clients?