In the Result we Trust!

A wee story!

A long, long time ago, there was a young man, who started his career in the food industry on the production side of the factory fence. Oh, what a job that was! Meeting deadlines, cutting costs, staffing issues; every day he braced himself for the next problem. No wonder, he was less than enthusiastic, when the laboratory gave him a call, telling him that the production of a few days back didn’t meet spec! Of course he challenged that result - let’s at least take some extra samples to make sure that we have the full picture – right.

Some years later, he got rewarded for his sins; he jumped the factory fence and became a laboratory manager. Running a laboratory was not that much different (meeting test turnaround; cutting costs; staffing issues), with the exception that this time, their technical capability was challenged, when management did not like a result. And he wondered “Why would we test the product at all, when the results in-spec are OK and those out-of-spec results are wrong?”.

However, when his laboratory embarked on the journey towards ISO17025 accreditation, things changed. He started realising that there were gaps in the testing protocols, and indeed some of the results were not as robust as the paper they were written on (it was a long time ago). There were plenty of gaps in the handling and testing of the samples and the production managers started feeling rather smug.

Until the day the laboratory got accredited! Instantly, there was a heightened level of confidence in his team and they told the production managers: “yes, the result stands and no, we do not retest without a valid reason”. It did help that the number of “surprise results” reduced as well of course.

But he kept thinking: Why is this!? Why do we challenge the results we do not like, but happily accept everything when it is “in specification”? He found out that it may have to do with the human “confirmation bias” – people just do not like things, if they do not meet their expectations and one of their first reactions to a surprise is to make that surprise fit their mental framework or discard it.

These days, that young man is a lot older and recently, he got a call from a young friend, sharing her frustration that: “Why is it that every out of spec result is challenged by management? How do I deal with this? Why do we test?”.

He thought: “Oh, how times have changed – Not!” and ?proceeded to share some of his experience. This is what he told her:

Jump the Fence!

Look at the issue through the eyes of the other party! He shared his personal story, when he moved from production into technical, which taught him what the pressures are like on both sides of the fence. “Walk a mile in someone else’s shoes!” he said and you’ll better understand where they are coming from and “Always emphasize that you are both working for the same company and want the right outcome for the business!”

Explain the Why!

He told her to always explain the why: “why we do this test, what will the results tell us?” Procedures without why, are procedures that don’t stick; and he shared his 2am test: “Will this procedure be followed at 2am in the morning?” Explaining the "why", builds understanding, consistency and focus; it is fundamental to Food Safety Culture.

Be open minded!

He told her not to take it personal. There is nothing wrong being challenged. Take constructive criticism as an opportunity for improvement. During the ISO17025 journey he realised that nobody is perfect and rather than digging in and saying “You’re wrong!” he started saying “You may be right, I’ll look into it - Oh, and by the way, can you check whether your operators are taking these samples correctly, please?”

But above all:

Maintain your Integrity!

“The only person you truly report to – is the person in the mirror!” he said. If all else fails and there is no middle ground and you’re overruled by more powerful forces, it is time to take stock. It’s no use to “keep batting on a losing wicket”. You should get the final decision in writing and if you’re really brave, you may share how that decision makes you feel. Whilst unsatisfactory, it enables you to move on, without compromising your personal integrity.

I hope you liked this wee story.

False results do happen! Where people are involved mistakes are made. However, there’s always two sides to a coin and that false result can be an “in-spec” or “out-of-spec” result. Unfortunately, our confirmation bias means we only tend to challenge the "out-of-spec" ones.

To reduce the number of false results, we need to understand and strengthen the whole sampling to testing process, challenge our procedures and be clear on why we do the test.

So production and laboratory managers can jointly state: “In the Result we Trust!”

Jack