Please drop the Safety Jedi attitude

Not long ago I read a post where a well-respected Safety professional was praised by a fellow, who referred to him as a “Safety Jedi”. It made me smile, reminding me of those funny titles you can see in LinkedIn profiles, such as “IT Wizard” or “Project Management Guru”. With the new episodes of the Star Wars saga going on, I thought that using this iconic Jedi character was quite catchy.

Then I got to think about the attributes that are commonly associated to this Jedi image and it stroke me how well this figure embodies a certain vision of the Safety function. And somehow this made me feel uncomfortable.

So I decided to use this comparison to illustrate why Safety practitioners should not adopt a Jedi attitude. Here I list 5 ideas that came to my mind, feel free to comment with your own!

1.      Do you think you know the ways of the Force?

Lasersaber fighting, lifting space ships with their minds, controlling other people's will… Jedis can do all this cool stuff just because they know the ways of the Force (on top of the midichloriens count in their blood… but nobody cares about that).

This is something that we’ve all dreamed of as a kid: developing superhero-like skills just by knowing something others don’t. Many professionals, Safety practitioners included, share this tendency towards mysticism: the knowledge of the regulations, standards and techniques that rule Safety would give us super-powers…

Training and experience will bring you knowledge and skills, but don't allow arrogance to come with them! Because all the expertise in the world will be useless if you don't connect with people. And looking hubris is the best way to fail there.

Whenever I see young padawans glowing with pride as they lecture others about some obscure code or legislation, I wonder if I sounded the same at their age. Now I'm very wary of looking like those senior guys who swell while describing everything they've seen and done (a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away…)

I believe that we in the Safety trade must be extremely humble and make Safety advice accessible to every stakeholder. And always remember to question ourselves when our hard-learned Safety literacy doesn’t resonate with the common sense of people in the floor…

2.      Do you belong to a Sect?

For all their wisdom, it is quite remarkable that over so many centuries Jedis failed to share their philosophy with the common folk. They sought after peace and harmony but they were generally seen by others as outsiders and were largely regarded with suspicion.

Likewise Safety practitioners, whilst devoting their careers to the wellbeing of their colleagues and the smooth continuity of the business, are often considered as painful road blockers.

This is the kind of silo configuration that any function, and of course Safety, must try and avoid at all costs. Mystical tendencies (see above) don’t help. But, further to that, countless organizations fail to integrate Safety into “the way they do things”, so Safety becomes another layer in their cake.

Unfortunately some Safety professionals have become used to this configuration. Comfortably disconnected from the value chain, they see themselves as the guardians of the temple and make no effort to become part of the “real life” operation.

3.      Do you have the Lone Ranger attitude?

Although Jedis are ruled by a Council and trained by a master before getting their title, these guys thrive in facing danger on their own. There might be funny robots and other secondary characters around, but make no mistake: they are the true heroes of the movie.

Only they can do what they do, and it is thanks to them if Good eventually triumphs over Evil.

I don’t know a single function that can claim that it can make the whole operation progress on its own, let alone a single individual. Even if you are right (or you think you’re right – or righteous, see 1 above) if you’re isolated you’ll achieve nothing.

4.      Are you fighting an Evil Empire?

This may be the trickiest one: Jedis’ quest is defined by the Evil they fight against, the Galactic Empire and the Siths on top of it.

By adopting a Jedi posture, do you imply that you’re the one rogue hero standing to protect the innocent workers from the Evil Corporation, ruled by cruel and despicable villains? That’s a very unsettling thought…

Even if in some instances there will be conflicts between Safety and operational or financial constraints, these should never be considered from a confrontational perspective. The Safety function is there to raise the issues and partner with the other functions in finding the solutions.

If your system works, tough calls will be arbitrated at the suitable level according to the organization’s policy and values. If you’re not in line with those, maybe you don’t belong in that organization.

5.      The Dark Side

Finally, people who demonstrate the narcissistic traits leading to the attitudes listed above can get caught in their own game… eventually falling into the Jedis’ most dreaded pitfall: the Dark Side of the Force.

In organizations where Safety is taken seriously, that could mean using the influence of the Safety function for self-promotion and to serve their own personal agendas. On the other hand side, in organizations where Safety is not a core value, that could lead to frustration, bitterness and anger…

Again, thank you for your comments and … May the Force be with You ;-)