This is a simple thought from the National Safety Council.

When you are texting, or changing the radio station, or a million other things you may as well be blind.

You are traveling 60 MPH. A vehicle a football field away is traveling 60 MPH. You are 1 1/2 seconds away from a possible head-on crash.

David Sneed

So much for turning the other cheek in Bethlehem this Christmas. The rules of human hierarchies seem to be prevalent in the church today.

The Real Cause of the Christmas Day Tragedy in Stamford

The fire that took the lives of five people in Stamford Connecticut early on Christmas Day is most troubling. See the video below. My sympathies go out to the lady who lost her children and her parents. I have had sleepless nights this week about that tragedy and more that will come in most any city and state on a regular basis.



With all events like this there is the need to understand what went wrong in the interest of prevention of future occurrences. There is going to be plenty of blame passed around. My guess is that this event will not go away soon. Even the question of why the Building Department acted so quickly to have the house demolished is going to be asked. The fire Department had said that it would be several days before the Fire Marshall could investigate. Yet at 8:00AM on Dec 26, 24 hours later, the house was torn down.

I may be the only one to bring up one issue. This is not intended to blame one of the victims but it is to blame a cultural issue that is a huge undocumented problem.

The grandfather had retired as Safety and Security Director of Brown Foreman, the liquor manufacturer. According to the press and people who knew him his entire career had been devoted to safety. He certainly knew about fire prevention, smoke alarms, friendly fire becoming unfriendly fire, and escape plans. At the present time it is believed that there were no active smoke detectors in the house. We do know that all of the family members were awake and mobile. Is it possible that this man had given no thought to the possibility of fire in the large 100 year old house with construction work underway? Is it possible that he had never, in his daughter's 47 year life, never instructed her in safety? Unfortunately the answer is probably yes to both questions. I have seen many people who understand safety on the job who are somehow unable to view application of their knowledge off the job. Somehow or another we can learn to be safe in our area of the workplace and forget it all as soon as we punch out and leave. It's as if safety is a piece of a job yet is not a piece of life. Unfortunately in many work places, safety is viewed as a necessary evil for legal compliance.

A number of years back, a man well-known for both his scientific and business knowledge engaged me to put together some defensive driving for his company staff. Right there in his office he asked me if I would be dealing with single-vehicle rollovers and seat belts. I assured him that we gave plenty of emphasis to those issues. A few months later, that man died in a single vehicle rollover while on vacation with his daughter driving. He was not wearing a seat belt. When the vehicle rolled he was ejected from the vehicle.

One of the things we aim to do in Cowboy Safety is to make safety become a part of one's personal culture. We have some unique solutions that have been heavily criticized by proponents of company safety culture. Many of these folks are believers in off the job safety but view that as a separate issue. It is not a separate issue.

When we make safety an internal value rather than a logical site specific process we can actually eliminate much of the expense we incur for safety.

David Sneed

Where to Invest in 2012?

There is the story that in 1929 before the crash that a certain Wall St banker, while getting his shoes shined, overheard two shoeshine boys talking about their stocks. This man went and sold every stock he had. He figured that when the shoeshine boys were buying and selling stocks it was time to get out.

A few days ago the Wall Street Journal carried an article about the sudden popularity of North Korean bonds that defaulted 30 years ago. People are buying the bonds with anticipation that a new day is coming in North Korea with the death of Kim Jong Il. I have to think about that.

Do the people buying those defaulted bonds know something the rest of us don't know. Are those bonds preferable to common stocks, corporate bonds, Treasury bills and real estate?

I have been a bear on 401Ks and 403Bs since they started. I knew it would be constant new money pouring into mutual funds dealing in ordinary investments. The same shares of stock would be bought and sold at ever higher prices until the day that more people wanted to sell than to buy. With baby boomers retiring and with no growth and low interest 71 million people will be cashing out.Who will buy their stocks?

I think of the words of Psalms 20 that some trust in chariots and some in horses. This little ditty tells it with graphics.

David Sneed

New Safety Jobs

The Wall Street Journal had an article on Dec 24 called "How To Ace the Google interview."

"Imagine a man named Jim. He's applying for a job at Google. Jim knows that the odds are stacked against him. Google receives a million job applications a year. It's estimated that only about 1 in 130 applications results in a job. By comparison, about 1 in 14 high-school students applying to Harvard gets accepted. The first and only question he got was the following. Since he had no answer the interview was ended. 

You are shrunk to the height of a nickel and thrown into a blender. Your mass is reduced so that your density is the same as usual. The blades start moving in 60 seconds. What do you do?"

The story points out that even mainstream companies are now using these type interviews. There is a whole new world out there. Many will not survive.

What is most impressive to me is that everything is reversed from what we have known. What was once trade secrets is on the company website. What used to be sold is free. And marketing that once meant creating ads to get people interested in products now means creating products to get interest in the ads.

Safety and security, rather than poverty, is the major problem of the 21st century. And safety and security with a broadly expanded definition to meet the needs of post industrial society. Safety is becoming a part of every product and service. Safety is no longer a process. New ways of thinking are needed to retrofit safety and security to existing products and services and to embed safety and security into new products and services.

The google interview questions may not be so unusual after all.

David Sneed

Catvertising

Near the end of the year is a good time to be open to new ideas. The new year is coming. New ideas of all kinds can help flush out some of the accumulated junk from the prior year.

I won't make any comments but will just make available to you a video from an ad agency, John St, in Toronto.

I think I will use this video in some creative thinking sessions in 2012.

David Sneed

Safety is the 21st Century Poverty

In 1963, James MacGregor Burns wrote: "Because it has failed to engage itself with the problems that dog us during our working days and haunt our dreams at night, politics has not engaged the best of us, or at least the best in us. If people seem complacent or inert, the cause may lie less in them than in a political system that evades and confuses the real issues rather than sharpening or resolving them."

We find that oil companies are required to have safety plans for offshore drilling. When there was a drilling disaster in the Gulf of Mexico we found that the plan writing was outsourced, no one read it at the oil company, and no one read it at the Minerals Management Service (MMS.) With other disasters we find that newspaper reporters within an hour have determined the cause of the incident. A year or two later OSHA or MSHA confirms that initial report and blames management for failing to prevent the incident. Money changes hands between the business and government and life goes on with no one making any real complaint.

The solutions to so many safety problems are easy but are not done. There is too much money and too many jobs involved in maintaining dysfunction and in responding to incidents.

Hunger is easy to understand. In today's society hunger is mostly a non-issue. Anyone can get food stamps and there are plenty of give-aways. Try offering a meal to a "will work for food" standing at most intersections.

The big issues today involve safety and security. Physiological needs are mostly solved. However, the solutions go beyond simply providing food to the hungry. Often the problems are qualitative and the solutions are complex.

In December of 2011, the compromise solution for the "Jobs Bill," ostensibly to create jobs, was a two month reduction of billions of dollars in contributions to a bankrupt social security fund in exchange for ten years of added fees to new mortgages.

In a campaign time for both parties, the appearance of more take-home pay is more important than grown-up solutions to real problems.

Cowboy Safety is the realization that government is not going to solve safety and security problems and that people, individually, in their own business, and in their own communities need to find a solution.

David Sneed

There is a common belief that compliant fire extinguishers and training in usage can substitute for fire prevention or the fire department. In a controlled environment try using a small fire extinguisher to put out a fire. It might work sometimes if you are present just when the fire starts.

Watch this one video of what can happen in just one minute. This fire starts with a Christmas tree. It could be with a candle, with a spark from welding, a battery charger, or a coffee maker.

The only real solution is in fire prevention. What is required is knowing the ways that a fire can start in a given location. Then have a fanatical attitude about controlling those circumstances.

David Sneed

Singing for Safety

Here is an example of a customized Cowboy Safety type application as done by TSA. This is right brain thinking applied to safety.

There is a job to be done to maintain airport security. The job is full of rules, procedures, expense and plenty of aggravation. Human reaction and attitude cannot be ordered or legislated. This chorus puts a human face to airport security. Attitudes are changed about TSA and the attitudes of TSA people are changed. The result is immediate and measurable economic benefit. The job is done quicker, more efficiently and more effectively.

A Cowboy Safety program does two things. First it takes your safety program and improves its legibility and its readability in an exciting graphic way. Then it adds the extra touch of right brain thinking. Your employees will be doing new things to become safe and to also become more productive. They may not form a chorus. On the other hand maybe they will.

David Sneed

Who Can Decide How to Reinvent?

My city is asking the question of whether or not to change from having a Mayor to having a City Manager. There is an acknowledgement of a problem. Unfortunately the decision will be up to the City Council. The result will be no change and no improvement.  

The republican (little r)  form of government in the United States is far better than what most countries have. A big problem though is that a body of elected officials is a bureaucracy. The first goal of any bureaucracy is to protect and perpetuate itself. Often it is blind to its shortcomings. Mistakes are ignored for the sake of the bureaucracy. 

The following is a letter to the editor that I wrote. Within the realm of Cowboy Safety the point is that there are alternatives that can do much better job. None of my alternatives will even be considered. Why? Because consideration would be an admission that the present system has flaws. Mayor or City Manager? It makes no difference because both are under the control of the City Council. 

Mayor or City Manager? How about none of the above? 

What could a City Manager do about “The Hole”  and snow removal downtown that a Mayor can’t do?

The potential lack of administrative skills of an elected mayor is true of other elected officials. This past week we saw testimony by Jon Corzine, ex-governor and ex-U.S. Senator, that as CEO of MF Global he has no idea what happened to $1.2 billion. He claimed ignorance of accounting. 

A new type of thinking is needed that is not learned in an MBA program or with experience in another city with the same problems. 

A new type of thinking is needed because the percentage of government revenue going to pensions is increasing. The WTE on December 11 told of a California teacher that retired last July at age 59 with a pension of $174,308. Millions of retirees will live to be 100. What plan is in effect for retirees collecting pensions for 40 years?

A new type of thinking is needed because Cheyenne, with 554 employees, has one employee per 100 citizens. The budget of $111 million is expense of more than $2,000 for each man, woman, and child. 

Four ideas:

1. Sell the City corporation to a private business. 

2. Merge county and city.

3. Adopt the Town Meeting form of government that has worked in New England for over 250 years. No city council or mayor. Rather than “government does everything” the citizens often choose to do things by themselves, with neighborhood groups, or with outsourcing. The citizens can change anything at any time. 

4. Create a volunteer group of citizens to look at these and other alternatives to be on a ballot.

David Sneed

Real World Pie Charts

The pie charts in the link below certainly make one think.

http://www.maniacworld.com/pie-charts-that-make-you-think.html

Much of what we do can consume resources and increase chances of something going wrong yet make no contribution to the goal of the activities.

When we see a significant decline in traffic deaths we find that the reason for the decline is that gasoline prices have gone up and people have cut back on driving. It had nothing to do with better roads, cars, laws, or driver training. Often those things increase crashes. Turn a dirt road into an interstate and the road becomes a race track. The vehicles off the road in icy weather are the four wheel drives. The two wheel vehicles drivers have to slow down.

In a full analysis of resources in and out of a system, be it community, firm, or family, we can find hazards and losses due to unnecessary activities that produce no benefit.

No Banker Left Behind

One of the biggest hazards for small business has been whether or not credit is available and on what terms. Bankers have been in control. Today the customer is in control because there are so many new ways for a business to be financed. Businesses using the Cowboy Safety model can get bank financing more easily than other businesses but do not have to take it.  The following Ry Cooder song is a great song about bankers. Ry Cooder is in his 6th decade of writing protest songs.

David Sneed

Law of Misguided Subsidies

T.J. Rodgers, Founder, President and CEO of Cypress Semiconductor has an article in today's Wall Street Journal called "Subsidizing Wall Street to Buy Chinese Solar Panels."

In the article he updates the Law of Unintended Consequences with the corollary Law of Misguided Subsidies: "Whenever Washington disrupts a market by dumping subsidies into it, Wall Street will find a way to pocket a majority of the money while the intended subsidy beneficiaries are harmed by the resulting market turmoil."

In the Cowboy Safety approach the safety model aims to allow the intended beneficiaries to get the subsidies and aims to make a path so that harm is not done. To do this requires knowledge and understanding. It also means planning well in advance often at the point of firm formation. Government also plans well in advance and may even design the subsidy program to make it difficult for the intended beneficiaries to achieve any benefit. That is because they may have another agenda or may themselves be victims of The Law of Unintended Consequences. The Cowboy Safety approach is not to take a political position, not to be critical, but to understand, to benefit and to avoid damage.

Cowboy Safety goes beyond the concepts of tax planning that is looking for deduction s and deferrals. Cowboy Safety puts the business into relevant context and synthesis. Most accountants, and I started out as one, are left brain thinkers. Left brain thinkers can analyze but they cannot synthesize. Left brain thinking worked well with industrial age businesses that transformed low level materials into higher level materials. Each step added value. Left brained thinking cannot handle any other business concept. It cannot handle the dimensions of experiential and transformational business that is borderless not just geographically but borderless in concept and in time. Neither can government.

David Sneed

Discussions

I think that if I had to pick one thing that is most troubling to me it would be those who either will not or cannot be open to a discussion of something where the subject is in some form connected to them. Even just general discussions. Regretfully that includes many Christians. And more regretfully pastors often fall into the statement in the next paragraph.

Upton Sinclair once said "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary is dependent upon not understanding it." Unfortunately this covers most people in authority at any level. And that includes people who make decisions affecting others.

Outside of where there is a money impact there are so many who take simple discussions, discussions that are not in any way critical, as personal attacks.

I thank God that I am open to a discussion of anything that pertains to me. I suppose a complaint that I have is that I do not get enough criticism. Throughout my career I have always told my clients never to bother me with what is good. Only call me when something is wrong so I can fix it.

Christians are not called to make monuments of past "goods" and to explain past "bads" but to make solutions for the problems we find each day. We are to fix circumstances and heal the wounded. Our God is a God of the second chance. We should do no less. Do more good than was done in the past. And move on from the bad.

End of comments.

David Sneed

John Lennon's To Do List

Even the rich and famous find a need to make to do lists. Maybe they are rich and famous because they make to do lists. Below is a To Do list handwritten by John Lennon. For sure it is a way to keep from forgetting things. A principle of Cowboy Safety is to have some way to keep track of what needs to be done. When we learn the wrong way to do something we should make a record so that we do not repeat that mistake. I find that 3x5 cards are a good way to do this. 

David Sneed 

Cowboy Safety Thanks

I am thankful for the ability to recognize the abundance that the Lord has provided.

In one specific area, I am thankful for the ability to see what safety can be. I believe that there are many new jobs, my number is 5 million jobs, related to safety in this post-industrial era. I believe that safety is one of the best investment opportunities that there is. Safety is a new world of abundance. To recognize how that can be the first step is to acknowledge that the industrial era is over. We have some industrial era jobs left but they are mostly staffed with people who are  not of the industrial era.

Two encouraging things happened in November 2011. Whether or not either of them produces any results does not matter. What matter is that something is happening.

The National Safety Council announced that it would have a separate Young Professionals track at its 2012 Congress and Expo for presenters and attendees under 40. I hope that this track succeeds and is well attended. I am most anxious to see the answer to the question "Why is safety different to those under 40?" These are the folks who did not know the Industrial Era or its attitudes.

I had a chance in November to be a policy wonk. It was fun but I don't want to do it all the time. I met with a man who is in an appointed position one notch from the Oval Office. He has known politics all his life because his father was in politics and came very close to becoming the President a number of years back. Also at the meeting were two senior career government executives. We talked of the way that these 5 million new jobs would work. The questions were good and they were answered. We talked of the regulatory issues involved and there was talk of the politics. Most importantly we talked about how these jobs work well with new grads, with retirees, and as well with those doing the hiring. In these jobs there is no wasted time so the effective pay rate per hour is quite good. Government subsidies are not needed.

There is something that both of these events have in common. They both represent change and there are those who will oppose any change. Do those under 40 know something that those over 40 do not? If there are 5 million new jobs in safety what will they displace? Do either or both of these events mean that there might be a whole new way of doing safety?

Let's all be thankful that in the United States there is still hope.

David Sneed

Scrooge and Cowboy Safety

Yesterday we went to see Scrooge, the musical version of Christmas Carol, at the Candlelight Dinner Theatre in Johnstown Colorado where we have season tickets. It was a great performance.

What amazes me about this play is that so many Christians do not understand that the theme of Christmas Carol is the opposite of Christianity. Scrooge becomes aware of his sin and his future in hell then decides he can achieve salvation through good works. His deeds are so good that it is easy to see that this must be the best way. In the sequel to the play we might see Scrooge on Monday become the Chairman of the Board of Deacons after making his promised donation of a hundred guineas. Yet no amount of defense can show that Scrooge accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal savior.

God wants us to acknowledge our sin and get our soul fixed through the blood of Christ. After that we can change our act through His grace. Giving is certainly a Christian act. Born-again Christians would do well to model the acts of Scrooge.

The Bible says that "faith without works is dead." But faith does not come by works. "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. "

David Sneed

Cowboy Safety and Resource Value

A teenager lost a contact lens while playing basketball in the driveway. After a fruitless search, he went inside and told his mother the lens was nowhere to be found. Undaunted she went outside. In a few minutes she returned with the lens in her hand. "How did you manage it Mom?" the teenager asked. "We weren't looking for the same thing," she replied. "You were looking for a small piece of plastic. I was looking for $150."

Too often we know the cost of everything and the value of nothing. 

The Cowboy Safety philosophy, that learns from the past, established values for every resource, tangible and intangible. This process is not immediately obvious. Once learned it is not easily forgotten. 

David Sneed

Cowboy Safety Means Using Another Viewpoint

Here is a video of the earth created from photos taken from the International Space Station  at an altitude of 240 miles. Is it what you think it should be? Does it make you think of the earth in new ways?

I remember when one of my sons, age about 3, made his first flight from Thomas Green Airport in Providence RI. Maybe 15 seconds after take-off he said "I can see the whole world!"

David Sneed


Earth | Time Lapse View from Space, Fly Over | NASA, ISS from Michael König on Vimeo.

OSHA Willful Violations FY 2011

For the 12 months ending 9/30/11, OSHA has listed the 10 most frequent willful violations. These activities are quite common and consume the greatest amount of time and expense. All are easy to violate and it may well be that most people do violate them.

When safety is viewed in a holistic way these activities are so embedded that it is hard to know how to violate them. And since they are built into the cost and pricing of the products the employees have no pressure or incentive to violate them.

  1. Excavation
  2. Fall Protection
  3. Process safety management
  4. Grain handling facilities
  5. Asbestos
  6. Lockout/tagout
  7. Machine guarding
  8. Specific excavation requirements
  9. General recording criteria
10. General duty clause

David Sneed

Value of Time

Cowboy Safety considers the value of time. With today's technology there are very simple ways to measure the value. There are different types of time and the values of that time.

I remember the old story of the man coming down the road and he sees a farmer holding a pig up to an apple tree so that the pig can eat apples. "Doesn't it take a long time to feed your pigs that way?" The farmer replied "It does but what's time to a pig?" Make sure you know the nature of the time that you are measuring. And make sure you know the alternatives for the time.

Let's take a simple real-life example where the metric is money.

At the outset though keep in mind that you of not want to be one who knows the cost of everything and the value of nothing. There are plenty of times when comparisons should not be made.

Today I went to pay my county taxes. There are three choices:
1. Pay half by November 10 and the other half by May 10.
2. Pay all by December 31 and no 18% interest for a late first half.
3. Pay late and incur 18% interest.

I have meditated on the choices and I believe that it was a method set up about 30 years ago based on the values of different forms of money at that time. Obsolete but I have to live within what they offer.

Which to do? It is not as simple as whether or not there is enough cash on hand. Hopefully choice 3 does not apply. The options are worded to cause confusion between two different times and two different rates.

1. Option 1 means having half the money for six months longer than option 2.
2. Option 2 means having half the money for one and a half months.

The real issue is what is the value of half the money for four and a half months.

If you are paying interest on a credit card or line of credit you can pay down the principal for four and a half months at whatever interest rate. Let's say it is 12% which is 1% per month. The value would be 4.5% (1% per month for 4.5 months.) That works out to $45 per thousand dollars. Not too bad.

With a comprehensive plan for how you use money the time value of money can be well worth your while. It does take some study. Someone once added to the basic idea of business and came up with:

Buy low. Sell high. Collect early. Pay late.

When I was with Litton Industries Corporate Consulting we would go into a new acquisition and make some changes. Generally these were old line family owned businesses. They would allow customers to pay slow yet on their own purchases they would be careful to take the 1% discount for payment in 10 days. We would change to enforce 30 days from customers and wait 60 days or longer to pay suppliers. Often this created enough cash to eliminate all loans.

David Sneed

Modelling and Record-Keeping

Practitioners of Cowboy Safety need to rapidly create future models of the short term and sometimes very very short term as well as years into the future. There are a variety of well understood and reliable tools for doing that starting with simple spreadsheets.

These practitioners must also keep records of the past even when they do not understand why. It is from these records that models of the past can be made.

"If you can't model the past where you know the answer pretty well, how can you model the future?"

This is a most succinct quote from William Happer who is the Cyrus Fogg Brackett Professor of Physics at Princeton University. While admittedly not a climatologist, Professor Happer has made the most rational and believable argument why increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is to be desired rather than resisted.

Thucydides, author of The History of the Peloponnesian War, wrote in great detail. He wrote in such detail that his book has been called the most boring book ever written. He wrote in detail because he said he did not know what might be needed by future historians.

It is by modeling the past that we can model the future and thus avert the injuries and sometimes disastrous effects of hazards.

David Sneed

OSHA Top Citations for FY 2011

The following is the list of most frequent citations by OSHA in the 12 months ended 9/30/11. The problem with compliance focused safety is that extra attention is given to items that are most visible. The total number of violations is quite small related to number of workplaces having these violation possibilities. Cowboy Safety is a holistic approach that views that specific workplace conditions are the most important issues.

  1. 7,139 violations - Fall Protection
  2. 7,069 violations - Scaffolding
  3. 6,538 violations - Hazard Communication
  4. 3,944 violations - Respiratory protection
  5. 3,639 violations - Lockout/tagout
  6. 3,584 violations - Electrical wiring methods
  7. 3,432 violations - Forklifts
  8. 3,244 violations - Ladders
  9. 2,863 violations - Electrical - general requirements
10. 2,728 violations - Machine guarding

David Sneed

Q Prime

Q Prime is a music management company that has been in operation for 30 years.

They started with no outside funding.

Rather than get cell phones they hired an assistant.

Their business model is simple:

• Keep operating costs low. "I worked out of my house for six years with a telex machine in my basement next to the washing machine."
• Diversify your revenue base
• Use your network. "But if people had thought all along that we sucked, no level of personal contact would have helped that."
• Ask colleagues to recommend recruits

The two founders, Cliff Burnstein and Peter Mensch, are practitioners of what is known as creative friction yet are close enough that they work together in one room and finish each other's sentences. According to industry consultant Peter Lubin, being managed by this duo is "like having an Hasidic scholar whose partner is Attila the Hun."

There are few music entrepreneurs that last. The market is too volatile. By carefully monitoring risk in both activities and operations Q Prime has survived, the two founders are multimillionaires, and they have fun doing what they like to do. 

David Sneed

Ptolemy's Map of the World

In 150, Claudius Ptolemy a Greek, made a map of the world. He attempted, as have many others, to show the world or parts of the world in a flat format. Ptolemy's projection is still in use on maps made by such esteemed organizations as the American Central Intelligence Agency. The most common map that we all know is one that really does not do that good a job. 

Called the Mercator projection it distorts land masses as the poles are approached. Greenland becomes quite large on a Mercator map. 

Maps have historically served other purposes than to express geography. Religion has been frequently used. We've all seen the maps used for advertising in a given town or city. There are subway maps that are indispensable for movement. 

Safety plans are a type of map and they often depend on specialized geographical maps. In a formal Cowboy Safety program we make a variety of customized maps maps to achieve program goals. 

In my office I have a spherical map that has the North Pole in the lower center. Kugaaruk (formerly Pelly Bay,) Nunavut, Canada is the is the center of the map. Barrow Alaska is in the lower right. This is a map that depicts the market area of the barges that traverse the Northern part of the earth. 

David Sneed

A Genesis 21 Coincidence

Last night, my daughter Hannah and her family were over. I had my Bible out and was going to share with my son-in-law Matt some things out of Genesis 21. Cheri and I had read that chapter on Friday morning. Coincidence! Matt and Hannah had just the day before been listening to that chapter on tape.

Genesis 21 is a great chapter.

God's promise to Abraham had come true. Abraham, age 100, and Sarah his wife, age 90, became parents.

Two things we should note.

First the timing was set by God.

Second, the impossible happened. That is why we know it was of God.

God expects us to handle ordinary things on our own. These things are always in the realm of the possible. But God does not expect us to always dwell in the realm of the possible. That is why he gives us vision.

Abraham had disappointed God. Abraham had his thoughts that were very different from God's. Abraham had taken action on his own. In the second half of Genesis 21 we find that Abraham is trying to deal with the results of not trusting God to do what He had said He would do.

George Washington Carver was a poor black man, the son of slaves. Carver took God's promise in Jeremiah 33:3. The rest is history. With God's help Carver discovered many things about peanuts and their uses that modern science had not been able to do.

Oh that we would seek God's will and that we would wait on God's timing.

David Sneed

Hospital Safety Violations

The Los Angeles Times on October 29, 2011 reported that Harbor-UCLA Medical Center has been cited for safety violations. And it is not the first time.

• The hospital failed to keep its operating rooms clean. 

• Operating rooms were kept at the wrong humidity level. 

• Hospital staff were not washing their hands according to policy. 

"The hospital failed to maintain a sanitary environment for the provision of surgical services." the reports said. "This could lead to contaminated surfaces in the operating room and the spread of infection."

There may be good defenses on the part of the hospital. It is an old building and there are challenges. There is no excuse for hospital staff not washing their hands.

Key safety issues can be identified in any environment and solutions can be found within the budget.

Safety problems are often the result of forgetting hazards in the day to day operations.

David Sneed

An Unpleasant Restaurant Experience

On October 15th we went to a restaurant that advertised a $4 per person discount for all- you-can-eat prime rib. We had not been to that restaurant for many years because the first time we went it was very expensive. $29 for a steak in 2003 was a bit much.

The prime rib on October 15th was out of this world. Cooked to perfection. Seasoned just right. The carver was a man who clearly knew what he was doing with the meat and with the customer.

Before leaving we met the CEO of the vertically integrated company that owns the restaurant. I don't know how the subject came up but this man had learned from my daughter what I did professionally (presumably besides eating a lot of prime rib.) He indicated a need. She told him that I would consult with him at no cost. He and I met and exchanged cards. On the way home I had already established a mental list of things that were or could be a hindrance to that restaurant. A solution plan was already in place in my mind. I had a feeling though that there was something else and that the standard solutions would not make much difference. By October 29 when I had a hankering for some good prime rib I had not yet visited with him and he had not called me to expedite. I put on my customer hat and we headed out. My wife told me that if the man was there that I should not do any business talk. As it happened he was not there.

The meal was a big disappointment. The prime rib was overcooked. All of it was medium well. It was like roast beef that might have been served in a cheap public house in a Dickens or Horatio Alger novel. It had something about it that seemed old and not just a cook who did not use a meat thermometer. We had arrived early as my wife wanted to get an end slice. We were the first customers on that rib roast. In trying to figure out what went wrong I considered the possibility that it might have been a left over from the previous Saturday night and that an attempt had been made to reheat it.

Now you already know the damage that was done. My wife said it'll be another eight years before we go back.

So what went wrong? Lack of consistency. A hazard of prime rib is cooking it too long. I no longer trust them with prime rib or for that matter anything. My plan of improvement would be of no value to them. They do not need more customers or anything else if they cannot deliver on the promise. If they cannot deal with properly cooking a rib roast they deserve to fail.

David Sneed

My First and Hopefully Last Elder Fall

On August 27, a few weeks before turning 65, I suffered a fall. I was backing up my basement stairs moving a piece of furniture. One side of the stairway has no railing. I fell through the opening, over a book case, and landed on my back, about four feet below the top of the bookcase. I don't think I hit my head. I lay on the floor for a while and then got up. Nothing seemed to be broken and no bleeding or swelling.

The next morning I had various pains in my right side. Over the next two weeks the pains became more severe. I did some research. I already knew from my training and experience in Emergency Care that I should seek medical care. Quickly in my new research I learned that right side pain and left side pain usually are not of the same causes. I had some symptoms of internal organ trauma. The same symptoms also could have been something quite minor. In all cases the action needed was to seek medical care right away.

I am a believer in Jesus the Healer. At the same time if something is broken or bleeding I have no problem in getting patched up or sewed up. And certainly I believe in dealing with infections and prevention of infections. To confess sickness no. I have declined the Part B Medicare, the part that covers doctors. Part A, the part that covers hospital expense is automatic, has no costs, is not declinable except to not use the service.

I had a talk with the Lord about the matter. As a result I did not feel a burden to seek any other care. Most of the symptoms went away at that time with no further time elapsed. One pain stayed until yesterday. It was one that could have been several things. I had some doubts about my faith over the past six weeks. Worst case I could have become unconscious and not recovered. I updated my instruction list for my wife. I told my longest running client that in case anything happened to me that Cheri would know who to call as a back-up. In their case I have some special programming skills in an obsolete language. There is someone in their area that can take over should the need arise. Yes we need to rewrite the system and that will be done at some point in the near future.

We need to build our faith in all areas. Healing is most important. We need to grow in grace and knowledge. We need to experience healing in small ways so that we can have the faith for the major things that can happen. It is quite possible that I did not experience a serious physical event. Since I did not seek medical attention I do not know. I did experience a serious spiritual event because my faith was not as strong as it should be. I have grown in that arena in the last two months.

I thank God for a healing.

David Sneed

Three Stages of Truth

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second. it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as self-evident.

Arthur Schopenauer, German Philosopher (1788-1860)

Toyota Defensive Driving Formula

Last Saturday, October 22, I had a chance to tour the Toyota Driving Expectations display at Bass Pro in Denver. There were no teen driver classes going on while I was there though I did get the teen book and the parent's book. I wish I had read the books while I was there. I was intrigued by the Defensive Driving Formula. I could not figure out the meaning and it was not in the book. This week it took a while going through folks at Toyota and at Discovery Channel to find out.  

Toyota is using an experiential approach based on "what you see is not what you get." Describing the formula is tacit knowledge best handled verbally so they only printed the formula in the books. 

"P = R (ne) T"  (I don't know how to type the not equal sign)

"Perception equals Reality that is not equal to the Truth"

According to the verbal part of the program "To achieve this requires a healthy paranoia. "

I like it! I also like the DDC-4, DDC-8 and Alive at 25 programs that the National Safety Council publishes. Those are more analytical and compliance based.

There are many folks who want all their safety served the practical approach of the Toyota way. In the business world that is a market of 27,980,000 firms. It includes entrepreneurs in Minnesota and California in our test markets who are immigrants or are the children of these immigrants. They are looking for practical approaches to safety. Contrasted with the politicized and responsibility evading safety plans of the 20,000 companies in the primary safety market! 

One application of the practical approach in driving is one I've used. If you cannot avoid being in East St Louis or Miami or so many other places, the defensive thing you do especially at night might be to kind of ignore stop signs and red lights albeit with caution. The Toyota formula, with its subjective interpretation, makes a whole lot of sense. They do call their program "real-world."

David Sneed

Process vs Program - Part 2

On October 24, 2011, the Texas Rangers broke a 2-2 tie in the World Series by beating the St Louis Cardinals in Game 5.

Ron Washington, the manager of the Texas Rangers, acknowledged that Tony La Russa, his counterpart with the Cardinals, had been around for a long time was was very successful.

What happened on Monday night was that the Cardinals process did not work. La Russa's call to the bullpen was misunderstood. Twice the name of Jason Motte, a right handed pitcher, went unheard.

Napoli came up to bat. A right handed pitcher was needed but one was not ready. Napoli scored a double.

La Russa, the man of strategy, lost the game to Washington who is known as a manger that reacts to circumstances.

For a process to prevail, it must be fool-proof. La Russa chose to accept the results of a process error. He was not prepared to stall until the right pitcher was ready.

David Sneed

Process vs Program - Part 1

Last night while working working on a plan for a client I needed to get some idea of real estate prices and places available in a certain location.

I goggled "real estate" and the name of the area. I got a nice display of real estate agents. About 30 of them. Each had their logo displayed.

I selected the one in the upper left hand corner and then connected to that agent's website. I learned that this agent was the best for a variety of reasons.

For action I could email them or I could call them during office hours.

With some effort I found a small link that led me to some listings. I found what I was looking for!

These agents, through their association, emphasize process. A buyer wants a program.

I remember a cartoon with the wife on the phone. The husband is sitting in a chair, obviously in physical distress. "The doctor is on vacation for three weeks but we can visit his website."

Too often a process is used when a program is needed and a program is used when a process is needed.

Money can be saved when the correct solution is used. Non-owner management often chooses the wrong way to avoid responsibility. The result is poor customer service due to literal interpretations of policy or losses due to lack of an effective and efficient process.

David Sneed

How To Make Change

You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.

R. Buckminster Fuller

Drivers Had Safety Concerns Before the Race

According to numerous press sources, the drivers in the October 16, 2011 Las Vegas Indy 300 race at which Dan Wheldon was killed as part of a 15 car crash, spotted numerous hazards. "Everybody kind of elected that there was going to be at least one or two really bug crashes."

The crash occurred 11 laps into the 200 lap race.

The track is short and speeds are high. 225 mph means 3.75 miles per minute. The track is 1.5 miles. That means 2.5 laps per minutes or 24 seconds per lap.

There were 34 cars in the race. All were in a group together. When the collision started there was no time to react and no place to go.

These hazards are easy to understand. Yet race officials ignored them. And they are in the clear. OSHA is not likely to get involved.

In the application of Cowboy Safety we know that many hazards cannot be regulated. There is time and there is distance. Not just a hazard. Often a hazard is not a hazard until time and/or distance is considered.

David Sneed

Steve Jobs Deserves a Posthumous Safety Award

I ran across a story that Steve Job's 2007 silver Mercedes SL55 AMG (see photo below) had never been registered yet he had driven it since 2006 and had put 21,800 miles on it. 

"A search of traffic records confirms that he successfully avoided plate-related fines" said Paula Skier of automotive data and consulting firm R.L. Polk & Co in the LA Times. Polk runs Carfax. 

A defensive driver if there ever was one. (1) He drove a safe vehicle. (2) He limited his driving. (3) He had to be a low-key and observant driver to avoid being stopped. (4) A vehicle with no dents and scratches can get by more easily without a tag than otherwise.

I guess we might  give him a posthumous Cowboy Safety award! 

David Sneed

Design of Safety

A well used safety concept is root cause analysis. A series of questions are asked to determine the real cause so as to find a way to keep the event from happening again. A car crash is not just the result of sliding on the ice. It gets down to why the person was on the road during those conditions.

Root cause analysis, for lack of a better term, can also be used before any incidents occur. It baffles me why this is not done very often.

I just read an article about the restaurant designer Glen Coben. It tells of how he does what he does. One example I thought most interesting is that one of the first questions he asks is "How long will a diner be seated at the table?" He then supplies half-hour chairs (like stools and benches,) hour chairs (unupholstered and low-backed,) or pricier two to three hour chairs, which are well-cushioned and have armrests.

Design of safety is becoming more and more important.

David Sneed

How Fast Is Too Fast?

Netflix today announced they are abandoning plans to rename its DVD service "Qwikster."

I like the quote from Netflix co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings. "There is a difference between moving quickly -- which Netflix has done very well for years -- and moving too fast, which is what we did in this case."

So how fast is too fast?

Many firms never have to ask that question. Or maybe they do and the answer is to never move. Kodak, on the verge of bankruptcy today, was once a pioneer. As early as 1906 it ignored the Haloid Corporation that later became Xerox.

Cowboy Safety recognizes that moving fast is an essential of survival. By having adequate up to date relevant information and market knowledge a firm can move as fast as it has to move.

Sometimes it must move fast when there is a customer at the counter with a unique problem.

Netflix moved too fast because it moved without the knowledge it needed. It did not have the essential knowledge that customers value simplicity. They do not want to have two bills mean from the same company. The real problem Netflix faces is that there are other ways to get the same results. In the last few weeks Netflix has lost market share. More loss may be coming.

David Sneed

Strange Things Today

Something really "strange" (Luke 5:26) happened one day in Capernaum when Jesus was teaching. There was a big crowd. Some men brought in a man who was sick of the palsy. The only way they could get the man into the presence of Jesus was to lower him on his bed through the roof.

"And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee." Luke 5:20.

The scribes and pharisees viewed that statement as blasphemy.

"But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts?" Luke 5:22.

"Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk?" Luke 5:23

"But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he saith unto the sick  of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house." Luke 5:24

"And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that wheron he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God." Luke 5:25.

"And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, "We  have seen strange things today." Luke 5:26.

Mediate on those verses.

Have you ever been to church and seen pastors assuring people that they are saved when in fact they may not be? I don't know about you but I don't want to one day be standing in hell next to an unsaved pastor.

Jesus told his disciples that they would do greater works than  he did. I know I'm saved by faith but if my pastor is not healing the sick I want to know why. I don't want to be judgmental or do anything incorrect in my Christian walk. If I had been there in that house in Capernaum and Jesus had not healed the man I would might not have wanted to be a disciple of Jesus.

Jesus has the power.

Enough said?

David Sneed

A Simple Cowboy Safety Manifesto

I was just reading the February 1917 issue of The Fra being a monthly publication for philistines and roycrofters edited by Elbert Hubbard, a renaissance man if there ever was one.

Hubbard is waxing poetic about price increases of coal, dry glue, sheet copper and leather. He then presents a list of items that could well be a simple Cowboy Safety manifesto.

In one sense I don't want to list these items because some of them have become politicized and may be construed incorrectly. Please think of them in the classical sense. And please bear in mind that there are 21st century applications of these concepts that reflect the exciting new world that is here right now. If your definition of safety is limited to injuries and fatalities your solution is there.

Hubbard summarizes: "My remedy for present burdensome conditions only applies to the individual. But of each would do his share we all would arrive. Here it is:"

Cut out the extravagance.
Refuse to feed the loafer.
Pay cash as you go.
Eliminate waste.
Produce.
Demand reasonable profits.
Pay only reasonable prices.
Live up to your ideals.

David Sneed

Customer Service Terrorism

I received a promo video from a hotel chain that is the very best promo I have ever seen anywhere. It builds trust and it gives an experiential sample. My feeling at the end is that this is the hotel chain where I would do every meeting and conference I can. I would not even get quotes from their competitors. I would not even care what this hotel chain wants to charge. I can believe from the video that they are the answer to my meeting prayers.

So what could be wrong?

The video has download gaps that make it most difficult to watch. There is no option to change the DPI or to load and then replay. Each time it reloads. I have high speed internet yet cannot properly view this video.

I emailed the contact us email. They promptly sent me a form letter that I could call a course supplier to deal with course technical issues. Then they had a satisfaction survey. I completed that and again expressed the problem. I received another form response from a supervisor thanking me for doing the survey, telling me that the first person is not trained to deal with that type issue, that I should contact the course supplier, and inviting me to answer another survey.

These "customer service" folks are like terrorists. They may as well have bombed all of the hotels the video was promoting. I had told both of them of the value of the promo video. Neither one of them was willing to find out more and go deal with the problem. My feeling now is that I never want to do any business with that hotel chain.

David Sneed

Simple Word Pictures for Improved Safety

In 1984, Sam Kinison, comedian and ex Pentecostal preacher, got his breakthrough on Rodney Dangerfield's 9th Annual Young Comedians special on HBO. He did a skit on World Hunger. See link below.

He told of the problem in a quiet voice. He noted the cruelty of the hungry child on the TV commercial. He wondered why the film crew didn't give the kid a sandwich. He presented his idea of how to stop world hunger. It was to stop sending food. Instead send U haul trailers, suitcases, anything to get them to move out of the desert and go to where there was food. In his inimitable way he pretends to pick up sand. He says nothing will grow here. "A hundred years from now it'll still be sand." "Go to where the food is" he screams. We can learn from the style of Kinison and other comedians. To the point real open-minded thinking. Simple word pictures.

Much of safety is wasted money and wasted effort. How much time and money is spent on training workers to know all the different types of fire extinguishers when their worksite, if it has an extinguisher, has only a type C? And the video in the course does not tell the workers where their fire extinguisher is located.

Cowboy Safety is an attitude of looking at the real hazards and planning for a real incident.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vN7ehccspao

David Sneed

When Do You Dream?

Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that all was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, and make it possible.  - T.E. Lawrence


Faith is action. It is not talking about something. It is not symbolism over substance.


I had a debate this week with someone who took exception to my statement that his denomination is good on salvation and good on Bible reading yet in effect teaches a rolling salvation where God did things in the past, will do things in the future, and does nothing today. My statement was not mean to be judgmental. What his church needs is for someone to step out in faith. Instead of "I have now completed all of my treatments and the doctor says I am well Thank God for His healing" it should be that "I have these symptoms, it is probably X, yet I am confessing healing with my mouth." 


"Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today and forever. " Hebrews 13:8.


Whatever Jesus did yesterday he will do today. He healed yesterday. He heals today. Yesterday in Nazareth he could not heal when there was lack of faith. Today he cannot heal when there is lack of faith. 


David Sneed

"Steal Shamelessly and Share Endlessly"

"Steal shamelessly and share endlessly," said Cyndi Fisher, a pediatric nurse practitioner at Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters. Fisher was speaking at the Hampton Roads Child Obesity Summit in June of 2005. 

 "Look around you and see how you can implement all -- or even little parts -- of the strategies and programs you'll hear about today. Technology is allowing this attitude to take place internationally with all aspects of safety. 


I have heard that saying many times. Too often we can go to conferences and meetings and bring nothing back and do nothing with what we learned. We can even go through a normal day and learn nothing of any value. A normal day? How about a whole career?


To save money and save time, both Cowboy Safety principles, the saying is a good one. Don't forget it. Practice it daily. 


David Sneed

The Most Fundamental Principle of Cowboy Safety

Here is the most fundamental principle of Cowboy Safety. Everything else builds from here.

The Most Fundamental Principle of Cowboy Safety

Cowboy Safety has a starting point.



Everything else in Cowboy Safety is the simplest way to achieve this goal. 

Will God Cover the Same Need More Than Once?

I have had a type of dialogue with someone this week who believes that in a case where he is a steward, does not follow a scriptural procedure and causes a loss, that he can impose on others to make up for his losses as a steward. What makes this so problematic is that the ones he wants to make up the loss would be the very ones who had warned him that he might not be a good steward and was risking a loss.

I have always had the view that I can refuse aid to you if I had told you where to get it or showed you that you had it, you ignored me, and the time ran out to use the aid. If I give you a shovel and tell you that you can dig all the potatoes you like from my field do I have to give you money for potatoes if that is your choice? If I say no can you impose on my children to give it to you?

Every corner and exit ramp seems to have someone with a sign "Will Work for Food," "Travelling need gas" or whatever. One of my daughters offered to fill a man's tank if he would bring his vehicle to the pump. He left the scene rapidly. He must have had a full tank. God had provided already. Would my daughter have been a bad steward if she had given him the money that he requested?

I have heard from folks in groups such as the Salvation Army that money should not be given to these "will works" as there are plenty of available resources to provide them. The money will often if not always go to support a substance abuse habit.

I have always thought that an expressed need should not be questioned. I have been stuck many times on this principle. I made the mistake of making a cell phone call to my wife while standing on the street in Seattle. A street person asked me for money for food. She wanted to buy a sandwich at the Subway across the street that was advertised on the window at $5. I gave her $5. She moved on up the street asking others for money. Then she got on a bus. Stupid me. I should have said I'll cross the street and buy it for you.

As the Body of Christ how do we do as Jesus would have us to do? Does God cover the same need more than once? Do I have a duty to give money in all cases or can I provide the items requested? If the steward causes a loss do I have a duty to  make up for his loss?

Any thoughts? I'll have to meditate more on this.

David Sneed

Is Anything Impossible?

Luke 1:37 is a simple and most interesting statement.

"For with God nothing shall be impossible."

If you take that verse and expect to win the lottery you will be disappointed. If you take that verse and misuse your resources you will be disappointed. If you want to do things your way you will be disappointed.

If you pray the will of God and move in His way you will not be disappointed.

God can make ways that you never thought possible. And when He does make a way it can appear to be something that happened by chance or would have happened to anyone. Faith is needed to believe in something that is not. Faith is also needed to believe in the Divine origin of something that is. God will allow us to believe the possibility that we created the answer to prayer.

David Sneed

Moneyball

I am not much for movies but today went to see Moneyball that just opened yesterday. It stars Brad Pitt, is produced by Brad Pitt, and is based on the book Moneyball:The Art of Winning an Unfair Game.

The story is relevant not just to baseball, but to safety, and to just about every business that there is. Everyone should see it.

The central concept of Moneyball is that the collective tacit knowledge of baseball insiders is subjective and no longer valid. The result is ever increasing costs and declining results. Recent studies have shown that empirical metrics such as on-base percentage and hitting percentage are more relevant than RBI, batting average and stolen bases.
 
Themes of the story are insiders vs outsiders, flattening of hierarchies, and a drive for efficiency.

The Oakland A's in 2002 with $41 million in salary were competitive with teams such as the NY Yankees who spent $125 million the same season.

The fundamentals of Moneyball apply to safety. Safety departments in most companies are vast hierarchies doing things that may have worked in the Industrial Age that today are redundant and produce no value. Lethargy and bureaucracy have taken hold. As the jobs base declines, total cost of safety grows by spending on things that have no real link to safety results. Not just employee safety is compromised. Performance of the company mission is threatened. Do you think this could not be? And do you think that safety departments are concerned with safety?

During the BP well problem in the Gulf of Mexico BP came close to going away due to safety lapses. We learned that BP and the other oil companies outsourced their safety plans to a two man boilerplate firm in Houston. No one at BP ever read the plans. No problem. No one in government read them either. It took a newspaper reporter to discover that the plan included provision to protect walruses and polar bears in the Gulf of Mexico.

Back to baseball.

Of the nine teams with the highest payrolls this season six will sit home in October. The Red Sox may make it seven.

Moneyball is good because it is based on a true story that is so relevant to the 21st century.

David Sneed

Cooperation

The following is part of the charter of the National Safety Council from 1953 when it was chartered by the Congress of the United States.  

"to cooperate with, enlist, and develop the cooperation of and between all persons and organizations, both public and private, engaged or interested in any or all of the foregoing purposes."

Cooperation is an essential aspect of getting Cowboy Safety, or whatever other names it may be given, to be a part of every small business. It is a part of what will make the coming years to be the best and most profitable ever. 

I can remember when there was complete secrecy within a business. Secrecy was a part of every contract and agreement. No more. Today we can go anonymously to the internet and find anything we want about our competitors or would-be competitors. Prices are readily available. Competitive advantage, strategy, whatever you want. Cooperation is the name of the game today. Making knowledge available on the internet is one of the tactics. 

From the Bible Jesus said "Give and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give mint your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. " Luke 6:38

David Sneed

Why Crash Avoidance Could Cause More Crashes

The Financial Times this week had a special section on The Future of the Car. One article by Bernard Simon told of the crash avoidance systems that are in place now, will be in place in two years, seven years and the future.

The crash avoidance systems involve various sensors that can override the driver.

I'm reminded of the old story about the drunk on foot who is only a hazard to himself. Once he gets behind the wheel he can kill twenty before he gets injured.

I know that in winter weather driving that the four wheel drive vehicles are commonly off the road upside down or on their sides while the two wheel drive vehicles roll merrily along. Four wheel drive may get a vehicle moving but has no effect on stopping or steering.

Crash avoidance systems can encourage risky behavior. Crash avoidance systems cannot override physics. And it will still be true that two vehicles cannot simultaneously occupy the same space on the highway. More crashes could result from drivers believing they are invincible.

Designers of safety systems, no matter how small and simple, need to be aware of this phenomenon of invincibility. Extra expense may not produce any results.

A common response from OSHA is that more training is needed. In common sense cases no training should be needed.

David Sneed

Blog Guidelines

I ran across a list of guidelines that was issued by IBM in 2005 for IBM employees who write blogs. The rules make sense for anyone doing a blog. Cowboy Safety blogs have been following similar rules though nothing that we have published. I think that bloggers generally want to make a difference and these type rules are pretty much common sense.

I place an emphasis on confidentiality of client activities and on the content of private conversations and emails with all stakeholders.

At the same time I voice my opinions and do not edit for things that might adversely affect my income. As an example, while I do have connections with the oil and gas industry, I do not make it a secret that I am opposed to fracking for oil and gas. I know the pro side and find it reasonable but am also aware that water pollution nonetheless seems to follow the industry.

From IBM's rules for guidance of IBMers who wanted to blog:

• Speak in the first person.
• Respect copyright and fair use laws.
• Safeguard confidential and proprietary information.
• Protect company clients, business partners and suppliers. 
• Respect your audience and your coworkers.
• Add value.
• Don't pick fights.
• Be the first to respond to your own mistakes. 
• Adopt a warm,open and approachable tone. 

Not As Obsolete As It May Sound

If you are not familiar with the King James version of the Bible, conversation means behavior in today's English.

"Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation." I Peter 2:12.

In the New International Version it reads, "Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us."

David Sneed

The Hazards of Customer Service

I visited a small flower shop for the first time while on a walk with one of my granddaughters. There were no other customers and just the owner. I did mention that we were out for a walk. We certainly were not there for the day from LA. We must be community residents.

When we entered the store I had mentioned that this was our first time in. There was no effort on the part of the owner to grab hold of the event. A brand new prospect had walked in the door without a coupon or as the result of any advertising. This was an event that every business dreams about.

The owner heard me ask my granddaughter if we should get something for grandma. No effort was made to help make a selection.

We did purchase one flower with some added leaves and paper. It was noticeable that even though it was a small purchase I did not ask the price in advance. And I paid in cash. Clues of a potential good customer.

After the sale was complete and I had gotten my change I asked the owner why I should shop there and not at other florists. Her immediate answer was "customer service." I told her that everyone says that. She then outlined various features that are true for any florist. She did say that I could save money in sending flowers to another state to buy from her. That really set me to thinking. If I was sending flowers to another state why would I not just call a florist in that city and give my credit card number and ask them to deliver? Why involve a florist in my city?

There was no definition of customer service. The Cowboy Safety approach is to define what is meant by customer service and have a way to measure it. For sure it is not the same for every customer. She should have struck up a conversation. When I left, most likely never to return, she did not know my name, what I did, the size and location of my family members, whether or not my Mother was still alive or how often I bought flowers. She did not know that I had been pleased that at a grocery store florist a few months back that it was suggested that I set a budget and that I could trust them to design something great. For my first time out I tried $100. They did a great job.

A hazard in any business is that a prospect or customer will not come back.

David Sneed

Irreversible Decisions

We tend to think of an irreversible decision as one where we can know the decision point in advance of the action.

The most dangerous and most irreversible decisions have unknown decision points. These involve risk. We do something and we know or should know what can happen. The consequence may not occur. Should the consequence occur, the decision point gets backdated to the time that we took the initial action. It is as if we made a conscious decision to incur that consequence. We  may not want that consequence yet we get it as a result of our actions. The consequence is an irreversible decision.

An irreversible decision differs from an unintended consequence because with the irreversible decision we can anticipate the consequence but we do not know the probability. An unintended consequence is something that we normally cannot know in advance.

Management of irreversible decisions is a key aspect of Cowboy Safety.

David Sneed

When Risk is Not Risk

At Thy word I will let down the net. Luke 5:5.

The deeds and miracles of Jesus are
         not actions of the past.
Jesus is waiting for those who are
 still prepared to take risks at His word
because they trust His power utterly.

The above, in English and German, is inscribed on a plaque at Capernaum in Israel. I have found it to be most inspirational. 

David Sneed

What is A Simple Definition of Faith?

Faith is

Believing it is so
When it is not so
Until it becomes so
Because God says so

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Waffle House Playbook

Waffle House restaurants have a unique approach to safety that turns a disaster into a sustainable strategy. It is their aim to be open as much as possible during power outages, storms or whatever. Waffle House spends very little on advertising but gains goodwill from their conscious efforts to stay open no matter what. When they lose gas or electricity or ice they have a shortened menu and a procedure for what to do. They also plan for how to get back fully on line.

With 1,600 restaurants over much of the mid-Atlantic, Florida and the Gulf coast Waffle house is susceptible to hurricanes and other weather problems.

The Wall Street Journal has put together a great video summary:



Other businesses with disaster plans are Lowe's, Home Depot and Wal-Mart.

Every business should have a plan in place for how to work during hurricanes and other disasters.

David Sneed

A Sad Story Just In

About two hours ago today a 17 year old student at Colorado State University in Ft Collins CO lost both of her legs when she fell while attempting to board a slow moving freight train. She has been airlifted to a hospital in Denver.

She was with three male companions. Apparently they attempted to flee the scene. Two have been caught and charged with trespassing. 

It is believed that they had come to Longmont by train and were returning to Ft Collins.

There are many questions. The young folks had made it to college. Why did they not know of the dangers in boarding a moving freight train? Why did they not have safe transportation? What was in Longmont that was not in Ft Collins?

Often accidents can be prevented not by removing or mitigating the hazard but by not doing the activity in question. 

David Sneed