HRO: (2) Basic HRO Principles and God's Word

A foundational premise in my writing is that if secular wisdom is true and valuable, it will have a common foundation in God’s word.   I believe that each of these principles can be tied back to God’s word, because “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness…” (2 Peter1: 3).  Or, as Proverbs 9: 10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”  Principles like remaining alert, listening to advisors, having a discerning mind and respecting people are solidly backed by scripture and certainly related to the principles that make a High Reliability Organization (HRO) reliable.  HROs have five distinct characteristics, according to Weick and Sutcliffe in their definitive review of such organizations.  

These principles are:

1)      A preoccupation with failure.  Not like Eeyore, who always assumed the worst and expected disaster at every turn; instead, these organizations see small failures—deviations from the expected—as interesting and valuable data-points which may indicate a risk for future failure.  They chose to not ignore or dismiss any deviation, but are always alert to possible distress-signals from processes or people.

2)      Resist the temptation to simplify observations or interpretations.  It’s never just “a simple mistake” or “easily explained.”  Instead, HROs seek to gain a deep understanding of each failure as a unique event with unique lessons to impart; this results in an organization with a complex understanding of the risks for failure, and a sophisticated tool-box for dealing with challenges.

3)      Sensitivity to operations; coupled with both the freedom and obligation to speak up.  Small things are big to an HRO.  People at all levels are expected and empowered to speak up; to regularly look for and identify unexpected deviations from expected outcomes.  Unexpected outcomes are not met with a “huh, that’s weird” and a disinterested shrug in an HRO.  Instead, “that’s weird” is followed up with discussion and analysis of why things didn’t go as intended.  

4)      Commitment to resilience.  HROs know that failure will occur but that it cannot be debilitating.  Instead, errors are quickly identified and contained, and the follow up analysis will result in processes and protections that are even stronger going forward.  HROs are learning organizations.

5)      Deference to expertise.  While leadership in an HRO may recognize that “the buck stops here” in terms of ownership and accountability, those same leaders readily defer to the individual or team with the greatest expertise, regardless of status.  Decision-making authority is given to the experts with the know-how to solve the problem, not necessarily to the person at the top of the hierarchy.  

My plan is to meditate on each of these principles individually and evaluate where similar themes are found in scripture.  I want to “trust in the Lord with all [my] heart” and not lean on my own understanding.  I also believe that when I spend time deeply contemplating these secular concepts, I imbed them into my mind and begin developing them as thought habits.  Intentionally creating a thought habit from a secular idea has risk, unless those thoughts are found to mirror the truths of God:  I don’t want to inculcate a completely secular worldview that ultimately is in conflict with my faith. 

1)      Does the idea that God’s wisdom is ultimate, standing above all human wisdom, feel foreign to you?  Have you previously relegated scriptural wisdom from God as only pertaining to “churchy stuff”? 

2)      What secular ideas have you developed into thought habits, ways that your mind automatically responds or behaviors that are outgrowths of those thought habits?  Are any of those habits founded exclusively upon worldly wisdom?

3)      Is there a secular concept that your mind and heart as a Christian has rejected?   How did you address what may have felt very dissonant, that some piece of worldly wisdom was un-Godly? 

4)   Does anything in the list of HRO principles above seem to conflict with your Christian faith or Biblical principles?