Spreading the HRO gospel
Bob Koonce
Helping oil and gas leaders reduce major process safety incidents and improve operational performance using proven lessons from the US Nuclear Navy. Founder & President at High Reliability Group LLC | Keynote Speaker
I have been recently studying the Data Center Industry. It seems like you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a Navy Nuke working at a data center or helping build and commission them. {Note to PETA - no cats, dead or alive, were swung in the research for this article.}
So I started making phone calls to ask about this phenomenon which caused more confusion because the Navy Nukes I spoke with all seem to really like their data center work and were happy. This is weird because Navy Nukes are known to bitch about everything. This had me more puzzled.
So, I studied and asked more questions. (I know...I need a hobby and a life). And I think now I can now see why navy nukes like data center work so much. The same operational culture and values are embraced in Data Centers as we lived in Nuclear Submarines: Knowledge, Formality, Questioning Attitude, Team Back Up and Integrity - basically the High Reliability Organization culture.
The reason the two worlds have similar culture seems also pretty clear to me. The missions are very similar and clear: keep the servers on (100% uptime) for data centers and keep the lights on/screw turning on submarines (100% equal surfaces for each submerging ;)). Yes, we had some other missions in the Navy like navigating, gathering intel, and tracking the enemy, shooting weapons, etc. But, the more I think about it, our submarine was mostly a nuclear power plant for a data center (sonar, fire control, navigation servers) that supported the maritime mission. Maybe a bit oversimplified on both parts, but close, right?
This is all probably pretty obvious to each of you reading this... but I am kind of slow, so cut me some slack.
Now in other industries, Navy Nukes also seem to find happiness right? Bueller, Bueller? But in most industries I have studied or experienced, the HRO culture is not so easily embraced. I remember the first time I tried to hold a "critique" to get to the root cause of why our project was behind schedule at an power generation design engineering company. It was like I was speaking a foreign language asking probing questions. Then I was sure a mutiny was going to rise up when I put in place corrective actions to train some design engineers on review processes and set up communications policies...just thinking about it gives me chills.
And in my current company, High Reliability Group, we help clients mostly in Oil and Gas. We teach them how the HRO principles can assist them in reducing down time and process safety incidents. Some get it and have seen great results. But, a lot, especially out in the field like on a drilling site or hydraulic fracturing site (I have been on many), openly revolt against our ideas. I am pretty sure if they thought they could get away with it they would have tarred, feathered, and "run me off" on several occasions.
So if you are still reading this you may be saying "Bob, if you have a point, please make it soon because I have a yard to mow, deck to paint, toenails to paint, etc." Okay, I get it. Here it is:
领英推荐
Ummm, actually, I don't have a point...but I do have a question. From your perspective, where do you get the most satisfaction? 1. Taking the gospel of HRO to those ready and thirsty for high reliability (like Data Centers) or 2. Preaching the HRO gospel to those that maybe aren't ready for it or don't understand it, but could really benefit from it?
Not to make this religious. But, you can choose to be Peter or Paul. It did not end well for either I guess, so maybe that's a bad analogy.
But, seriously, I want to hear from you in the comments below. Are we at HRG fighting an uphill battle preaching the HRO gospel where it is not wanted? Are companies in the Data Center industry doing it right or am I missing something? What do you think?
Okay, it's raining outside so I can't mow or paint the deck...where did I put that toenail polish? (c'mon man - that's a joke... you can see why my comedy career never took off!)
Bob Koonce served for over 20 years in the U.S. Submarine Force and retired from active duty in 2011 after commanding USS KEY WEST (SSN 722), a nuclear submarine based in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Bob frequently speaks and writes on Operational Excellence and High Reliability Organizations based on the leadership and culture of the U.S. Nuclear Navy. He is co-author of?Extreme Operational Excellence: Applying the US Nuclear Submarine Culture?to Your Organization?available?here.?You can learn more about High Reliability Group by visiting?www.highrelgroup.com.
DIRECTOR/FOUNDER OF ZH VISUAL
1 年Bob,thanks for your message,waiting for yours on private
Director at Memorial University Medical Center, Savannah
2 年What? No educated and well-informed women in your organization?? Pamela Allison
Seasoned Leader with Expertise in Operations, Program Management, and Mission-Critical Cx Management | Retired Submarine Nuclear Master Chief
2 年Bob, Interesting article! As a Navy nuke who then worked 5 years performing liability inspections at commercial nuclear plants and am now a Commissioning Manager for data centers who still enjoys working with other Navy nukes. The Cx process is fast-paced, safety is still the #1 concern, deadlines are still important, and RCA's are still a must to prevent the same issues from happening again. Now everything gets better after Integrated Systems Testing (IST) instead of ORSE. ??
ITA VP Quality Assurance | Executive MBA | PMP
2 年Flashbacks, a laugh or two, and great insights, Bob! Looking forward to learning from the responses to your questions ??
Navy Vet | Senior Principal Assistant | Talent Developer | Organizational Development Specialist | Master of Science - MS at University of Charleston | PMP | SPHR | CBCP | RBLP-T
2 年Thanks for the article. I think their are many models and many ways to get something done. To successfully imprint a new model, there are typically three ways. You need someone on the inside that is high enough to champion it, a catastrophic incident where leadership is primed to try something new, or a cadre of people who already have that mindset. Data Centers seem to be a “For Us, By Us” model where Nuke are recruiting their own. So… if you don’t have that, you are down to the other two ways. That means you have to be an ambulance chaser or a master salesperson. But, as those in sales would say, “it is a tough life.” Really, inertia is tough to overcome. Laggards abound and early adopters are rare. I don’t know HRO’s pitch but much of the world is talking about Continuity and Risk. One old guy who hasn’t been around for a while might not be sexy enough to cause an organization to overcome inertia especially when entire industries (such as data centers) develop cultural norms. If you crack the code, please share!