Why We Must Know How Things Work

I have just reread Going Around in Academic Circles by Dr Richard Armour (1906-1989) a poet and author of 65 books. I had first read this book when it came out in 1965. At that time I was a college student.

The book is a humorous take on the college world. At the same time there is a great deal of universal truth abut how academia works.

Dr Armor earned degrees from Pomona College, and from Harvard, where he became a PhD. He had an incredibly diverse experience with many colleges in many roles. According to Wikipedia, Armour typically wrote his books in a style parodying dull academic tomes, with many footnotes (funny in themselves), fake bibliographies, quiz sections and glossaries.

Going Around in Academic Circles is well organized with 14 chapters covering each aspect of academic life. He added a fifteenth chapter called "How to Burn a Book."

Much of what he says I know from my own experiences. He adds much more. I understand who does what and why. Armour writes what is "unwritten."Knowing how things work is important so that we can design context. Too much work is done by assuming how things should be.

If someone were to set out to write a safety plan or to solve safety problems at a college, reading this book should be a pre-requisite. It could be a guide for how to write the typical P.R. type of safety plan that is designed for every purpose except safety. It could also be a guide for how to get around college politics and write a real plan.

I am aware of many of the details of a successful safety program at one college. I will leave out the name or for sure someone would try to undo the fine work this college has done. Safety is approached from a common sense standpoint. Students and visitors alike can spot pieces of what was done, starting in the Dining Hall.

Knowing the way things work is the ultimate way of overcoming the pyramid form of organization where the only real activities are back-stabbing avoiding being back-stabbed. How well I know from the time I was in the corporate world.



David Sneed

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Surprise about Two Surprises

There are two articles in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle of December 11 that involved surprises.

I am surprised that they are viewed as surprises.

One on the front page is that the City Council of Cheyenne voted down allowing High West Energy to operate in Cheyenne. Several council members as well as High West Energy were surprised. One council member who voted no is quoted as saying he asked the question "What's in it for the city?" He could think of nothing. As an elected representative of the citizens, he should have asked a different question. What's in it for the citizens? I'll try to answer that question.

Reason one. High West could have continued serving its customers that are in areas annexed by the City. 

Reason two. High West is a coop. Many people prefer coops. If nothing else there is a great lunch at the annual meeting. This year it was barbecue in Kimball Nebraska. There was also an entertaining speaker, plenty of coffee and tea, and good fellowship with friends and neighbors. 

Reason three. Competition. There are many cities where choices can be made of which utility. There are even choices for wind or solar energy. It is a simple process to pay a usage fee to use the same wires and transformers. Duke Power of North Carolina has windmills on City of Cheyenne land and sells wind energy all over the country. 

A second surprise in another article is that 190 million people will be getting a $5.25 per month per capita Federal fee on their health insurance starting in 2014. Why the surprise? Did they believe that government involvement in health care would have no related costs? Do they not understand that all the coming freebies will cost at least $700 billion over the next 10 years? Will anyone be surprised if it is not much more than that? The $25 billion interstate system so far has cost $560 billion. The new $5.25 fee per month per capita is to raise only $25 billion. Many other fees and taxes are coming.

Cowboy Safety is all about how to know what is coming and to implement strategies to deal with it. Cowboy Safety means no surprises. 

David Sneed

He Is There All the Time

I love that song "He Was There All the Time."

Jesus made us many promises. He will not force us to apply them or even to call on Him. He just waits patiently.

The Bible tells us to "cast all our cares upon Him." If we do that he will accept them. He will not just take them. If we want to keep them we can do so.

He is there and waiting.

David Sneed

SKUs

I used the term SKU in an email today to a client.

The response I got was "SKU?"

It was my mistake for using the seller's term. I should have simply said "item number." I got to thinking more about that. Maybe we should be more precise and always use the term SKU. "Item number" to a customer means that it is something the customer wants. Maybe the customer does not know what they want and so they do not know the item number.

I was at the annual Convention and Trade Show of a long running organization. There was an open Board meeting. It made sense as it was a non-profit organization. I could see a private company restricting attendance to stockholders.

At this Board meeting there was a presentation by two of the Executives that would depict the firm as having three distinct parts. One would be the annual Conference and Trade Show. Another would be the leading fee for service product group. The third would be everything else. There was even the suggestion that there be three separate legal entities. I watched the Board members. Zero interest. And both of those executives are now departed from the organization. Plain and simple the first two parts are the cash cows that keep the third one, and all of the bureaucracy, employed. The mission was buried.

What if each if us, individually and in our businesses, had defined SKUs for what we do?  We would not call them "item numbers" because our customers would not have to know them. An item number is something that provides us money. A SKU is something that we must define and give. Yeah I know. It's a fine line. It does not have to be a fine line.

That organization could see fantastic growth if it formed the three organizations. The surplus money from the first two parts would allow them to have some real growth. Everything in the third part would have to learn to perform. The second and third leading fee for service product groups have no reason for being. Under the present model they have no need to perform. They get their share of the total budget and can hide out. Top management does not care because their salary and bonuses are justified by having a large staff.

That organization is imploding. It is not just the decline of total revenue. Adjusted for the value of the dollar over time, it is rapidly going downhill. It stays alive with annual layoffs. The ones laid off are often the only real producers. Others are simply inventory that can later be dumped. They are like sand bags on a balloon. When there is a need to regain altitude they are cut loose. That organization has a ways to go yet like the buggy whip manufacturers it will eventually disappear.

A feature of Cowboy Safety is to make sure that the strategies are black and white. Strategy parts either achieve the mission or they do not. The operation model can reduce overheads by eliminating or outsourcing indirect functions. Initially it is done with tweaking the bookkeeping systems. Budgets are structured to the mission. Users begin to see what can be reduced and what needs to be increased.  Eventually the organization becomes known for its work and not for its bureaucracy.

David Sneed

Why is Religious Affiliation Shrinking?

According to a new report from Pew Research (www.pewforum.org/unaffiliated/nones-on-the-rise.aspx), one fifth of the general public and one third of adults under 30 have no religious affiliation. A variety of reasons are given.

I know something about the issue because I am one of the religious unaffiliated. I do have a religious background while growing up and as an adult. Now I am not a part of organized religion though my faith is stronger than it has ever been.

My reason for being unaffiliated is that I have not been able to find a church that can consistently present and live its fundamentals. Those churches may be there. I'm sure they are. I just can't find one. I'm not looking for saints. I'm looking for teaching that is black and white. Over the years I have seen many humorous quotes about the subject. "You say the church has too many hypocrites? Come on in. There's room for one more." Or "The church is a hospital for sinners." It goes beyond that.

I went to one church in New Hampshire. I had my Bible with me. After the service I noticed that the pastor would not speak to me. Based on things he said in his sermon I suspect he did not much care for the Bible. "Are you a student?" a lady asked me. "I see you have a Bible." "I guess you could call me that" was my response. Church members and pastors not believing their own doctrine is important. It is not a matter of perfection. Not even aiming for perfection is.

Generally I think that as a society we are moving into more authenticity. It is not just due to generational replacement. Many baby-boomers like me are feeling the same way. Don't give me a sermon telling me why the Bible is not true. And if your doctrine is that everyone who is not a member of your church is going to Hell then have the guts to say so. I may not agree but will respect you for taking a real stand.

The report says that the unaffiliated are more likely to become Democrats and to embrace liberal attitudes on abortion and gay marriage. Those may be the ones that never had a religious affiliation.

The report goes on to say that there is a view that the unaffiliated are secular. Maybe it's the other way around. Maybe the churches are secular.

The gospel message is about Jesus, crucified and resurrected. As Paul pointed out, if that  story is not true then nothing else matters. It disturbs me when that message is not first and foremost. The gospel is about Jesus. It is not about me. It is not about my choices on election day. It is not about abortion or gay marriage. The gospel message is not about how I now entitled to a Bugatti Vayron. The gospel should encourage the lost to accept salvation and to tell others.  It is about the finished work of Christ on the Cross.

If I want to hear a prosperity message I'll go to Forbes or Fast Company or Inc to learn how to do it. I don't want to hear it from someone who has never held a real job or owned a business. If I want to hear about Divine Healing I don't want to hear it from someone with health insurance. And if I want to learn about horses the teacher better know how to ride. There is SOME truth to the adage "those that can do, those that can't teach."

The report indicates that the trend is for more people to become unaffiliated and that there is no longer a stigma to that. There is some fear that we are headed in the same direction as Europe where church attendance has had a major decline. Fortunately many of the churches there are state-funded with religion taxes and with indirect funding. When in London I have attended St Paul's and Westminster Abbey. At both churches only a handful of people are present on Sunday. Ironically I find that the preachers do seem to believe what they preach.

The only thing new in the report is that the number of Protestants is now below 50%.

David Sneed

Big Numbers Made Smaller

According to an article in today's Wall Street Journal, Americans had $31.6 billion in overdraft charges in 2011.

I looked up the population in 2011. According to the Census Bureau in mid-2011 the population of the United States was 311,800,000.

Big numbers for sure. I decided to make it smaller.

When I divide the amount spent on overdrafts by the population I find that the average American spent $101.35 on overdraft charges in 2011.

So the population of a company or a community of 450 people would on average have spent $45,606 just on overdraft charges

The population of my city of 56,000 people spent $5,675,432, again just on overdraft charges.

Often in safety marketing we are told the average cost of a worker's comp claim and in the same ad we are being offered membership in some organization, the sale of a class, or maybe the sale of a book. There is no clear-cut connection other than the implication of how much money can be saved by making that purchase.

Do these marketers not understand that we have Workers' Comp insurance so that we do not have to pay the claim? Have they no other benefit to offer?

There are many other tradeoffs to achieve safety.

The Cowboy Safety concept is to do just that with a variety of measurable safety problems that are unique to a given community. If you like you can do it yourself and maybe better than hiring it out. Let me give you an example of that.

I cannot count the calls I have had asking for "getting certified in forklift safety." I tell them there is no such thing. They are puzzled. "Maybe you mean having someone who has never driven a forklift give you a four hour class on the third Thursday in July if at least 12 people show up?" One of the things that person will "teach" you is that no one can operate a forklift until they have had certain training. So you will know that new hires will have to sit around until the next class can be given.

After pulling their chain for a bit I tell them that they can go to the internet and easily get directed to the OSHA CFR for 1910.178 for Powered Lift trucks. For some reason OSHA does not call them forklifts.  Starting with 1910.178 paragraph L (lower case) there is all that one needs to know about forklift training. Do that and then have the best forklift driver on staff do all of the hands on part. What's better is that new hires can be compliant.

The Cowboy Safety concept is a way to "git er done."



David Sneed

The Height of Ignorance

At a breakfast meeting I attended this morning there was a discussion of the problems in development of collaboration in the development of effective safety programs. Requests to discuss the matter are frequently ignored even with the claim that there is a better way of achieving safety goals. There is zero interest in knowing how this would be possible.

Dr Wayne Dyer said that "the height of ignorance is to reject something you know nothing about."

The desire for effective and efficient safety results is growing in the context of small communities. Collaboration is a way of spreading the news and furthering the cause at the grassroots level.


In 1835, Alexis De Tocqueville wrote of how grassroots methodology worked in America and was helping to make the new country grow.

Wouldn't it be great to "give safety a chance?"

David Sneed