The Power of Vulnerability: How a Culture Shift Revolutionized Safety & Productivity
My first corporate role was as an Environmental Engineer for an Oil & Gas company - currently the 6th largest company in the United States. During one of the all hands meetings our Vice President shared a horrendous story of people dying while tree felling during the development phase of an LNG project. Two individuals lost their lives within weeks of each other while performing the same job. I felt numb thinking about the pain their spouse and children were enduring, and like everyone else in that hall, wanted to know what needed to change to prevent these accidents from happening again.
The Cold Hard Facts
In 2021 a worker died every 101 minutes from a work-related injury. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics there were 5,190 fatal work injuries recorded in the United States in 2021, an 8.9% increase from the prior year and the highest annual rate since 2016 [1].
Life on an Offshore Oil Rig
In 2016 NPR covered a story about oil rig workers using vulnerability to make the job safer. Wait, what?
Back in 1997 Shell undertook a massive project to build the world’s deepest offshore platform of its time. The platform, Ursa, would stand 48 stories tall and cost an estimated $1.45 billion dollars. The asset leader, Rick Fox, was concerned about being able to build and operate the platform safely and brought on a leadership consultant, Claire Nuer.
Nuer was not concerned with the technical challenges faced by the project team, but rather the interior struggles all humans face. Her idea was that if you create a safe and supportive environment for your men, then they will be more willing to speak up, ask questions, and even risk being perceived as incompetent or weak.
What began with Fox and Nuer on Ursa translated into a company-wide culture overhaul that spanned 15 years. And during that time,
“The company’s accident rate declined by 84%, while productivity (number of barrels produced), efficiency (cost per barrel), and reliability (production “up” time) increased beyond the industry’s previous benchmark,” [2].
A Harvard Business Review article titled “Unmasking Manly Men” reviewed the Shell case study. One of the authors, Robin Ely of Harvard, explained,
"Part of safety in an environment like that is being able to admit mistakes and being open to learning — to say, 'I need help, I can't lift this thing by myself, I'm not sure how to read this meter.' That alone is about being vulnerable," [3].
What is organizational culture, anyway?
Edgar Schein of MIT’s Sloan School of Management defines culture as “a pattern of basic assumptions - invented, discovered, or developed by a given group as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration - that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems,” [4].
In other words culture is what a group has learned about how to succeed within the confines of acceptable behavior that influences how we think, act, and interact with others.
Why should I care about company culture?
Culture is a nebulous concept that can be difficult to define, but whether you recognize it or not, culture influences your everyday decisions. A healthy company culture leads to tangible results, sometimes even life-saving results. In Bruce Tharp’s paper on defining organizational culture he states,
“The topic of organizational culture is increasingly understood as a company asset that can be used to increase business performance,” [5].
Organizational culture is a powerful force that influences every aspect of a company's existence, from the safety of its workers to the bottom line. The story of Shell's Ursa project highlights how prioritizing a culture of vulnerability and support can result in tangible benefits, not only in terms of worker safety but also increased productivity and efficiency. By recognizing the importance of promoting a healthy culture, we can create environments that are not only successful but also fulfilling and nurturing for those who inhabit them.
References
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics “Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries Summary, 2021” https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/cfoi.pdf
“Organizational Culture and Leadership” by Edgar H. Schein. Review by: William G. Tierney. The Academy of Management Review Vol. 11, No. 3 (Jul., 1986), pp. 677-680 (4 pages)
Bruce M. Tharp. Defining “Culture” and “Organizational Culture”: From Anthropology to the Office / 04.09 https://www.thercfgroup.com/files/resources/Defining-Culture-and-Organizationa-Culture_5.pdf
