Trust First

"Tell me what did you do about it".

We all want to know the answer. The questions don't matter.

I posted about the need to be kind to people who make mistakes. It drew from the past. One of the comments on the post asked me how I solved the issue. That comment made me realise how strong our need for a solution is. We need answers, not questions. It also made me reflect on what my point of view was. I replied to the comment, and then it went into three parts. I was looking at it, and I realised I could club them all and rewrite it. My newsletter has been dead for a long while. I could resurrect it.

If there was a solution, then that incident should have been real. Was it? Well, the incident in question may or may not have occurred as described. Regardless of whether this story is real or not, I believe there's something here we can explore when it comes to addressing issues onboard ships, or indeed, in any workplace. There is a perspective we could develop.

Perspectives are important. With pink glasses, everything looks pink. What perspective does is give you more colours than just pink.

First, the key point to recognize is that the goal should not be simply solving problems "caused" by individuals. Issues will always crop up, and we will continue solving them—but we'll never reach a point where we’ve eliminated all mistakes. We are human, and we will keep making them. If we were aware of our mistakes beforehand, we would correct them, assuming we are acting in good faith and not with malicious intent. We are, aren't we? And if we are, then let us assume that the others are too.

Instead of trying to find a permanent fix for mistakes, we should focus on how we respond to their consequences. As investigators, we have outcome knowledge—the benefit of hindsight. Having worked in similar conditions, we often believe we know the “right” way to handle a situation. It becomes easy to think that “I never made that mistake, so how could they?” This puts us in a perfect position to judge the actions of others, labeling them as improper or wrong.

But what if we changed that perspective? What if we accepted that those involved in an incident were well-meaning people, simply trying to do a good job in a complex environment? Recognizing that no one is perfect, we can shift from a mindset of judgment to one of understanding. Empathy.

Instead of investigators seeking the truth: a "root cause", we could become empathetic learners or coaches. Our role could shift from assigning blame to understanding what made the situation difficult for those at the sharp end—onboard the ship, or wherever the work takes place. Rather than asking, “Why did you do it?” we could ask, “What made it difficult for you?” This small shift changes the dynamic entirely, encouraging dialogue and insight.

Reflecting on our own actions is essential, too. How do our emails, phone calls, and directives affect the work environment? Are our expectations realistic? It’s all too easy to forget how we ourselves behaved in similar situations (just a few years earlier) and to fall into the trap of thinking, “I would never have done it like this,” or, “They can’t even manage this.”

If someone is doing something, it's because it made sense to them then. If we can’t understand their actions, it means we need to ask different questions, and take the time to understand. This requires an environment where people feel safe to speak up—an environment of trust. Trust isn’t built overnight; it depends on every conversation, every email, and every interaction that came before. To foster this trust, we must respect those working at the sharp end, be they superintendents (they are at a sharp end, too) or seafarers.

One effective way to build this trust is by embracing the principles of Human and Organisational Performance (HOP). These five principles guide us toward a more humane and understanding approach to safety:

1. People make mistakes.
2. Blame fixes nothing.
3. Context drives behavior.
4. Learning is vital.( This should be right on top or at the bottom. The rest of the four lead to this)
5. How leaders respond matters.

Research (by bp and in the mines in Australia) has shown that trust, more than tools or procedures, is the key indicator of positive outcomes. And yet, as an industry, we often chase better tools while neglecting the critical work of building trust.

Instead of looking to find the truth, let us learn to ask better questions. We have a choice on what questions to ask.

Where there is trust, truth has a strange way of showing itself. Clearly.

References:

1. Bitar, F. K., Chadwick-Jones, D., Lawrie, M., Nazaruk, M., & Boodhai, C. (2018). Empirical validation of operating discipline as a leading indicator of safety outputs and plant performance. Safety science, 104, 144-156.
2. Gunningham, N., & Sinclair, D. (2017). Trust, culture and the limits of management-based regulation: Lessons from the mining industry. Regulatory theory, 711.