Often I am sure you have been in a room where the issue at hand is likely to have derived from members beliefs and actions within that room. A manager lambasting the poor safety performance of a workplace that you are a part of most often being the case.
The best teams look inwards immediately, accepting an obligation to improve and look to what effect have their actions or inaction had on the likelihood of serious events. The less mature teams look to deflect perceived blame and create actions for ‘others’ who are having all the events.
If you are unfortunate to be part of a less mature team it’s often hard to swallow when no accountability is accepted and a potential opportunity is lost. I came across the term Grey Rhino, which I think sums the situation up well.
A “grey rhino” is a highly probable, high impact yet neglected threat: kin to both the elephant in the room and the improbable and unforeseeable black swan. Gray rhinos are not random surprises, but occur after a series of warnings and visible evidence [Source]
How then do we lure the beast out and bring it into the open? The most succinct and to the point bait that I’ve used in the past is to ask:
What is the one thing that is true that you think we all don’t want to hear.
This is a powerful question to ask in any environment and as a leader, it’s your simple, yet effective gauge on how open you are to bad news. If no one continually comes forward you either have an amazing team and working environment or there are trust issues that need to be considered.
Either way, it’s tough to coax insightful information out into the open in a group setting, especially when there is a strong bias of self-preservation. There may be a need for some light seeding or priming, but that’s a subject for another day.
Reframe my Safety Brain 