(126b) The Intersection of HOP and OD – the Next Logical Step in Our Journey

The aim of Operational Discipline (OD) is the performance of all tasks correctly every time which expressed more concisely is usually spoken as “Everyone, Do It Right, Everytime”. While in theory this philosophy is well intentioned, in practice workers are constantly adapting for flawed conditions and it’s hard to do the job the right way every time when the system or design is flawed. Chemical processes are complex and dynamic systems which often behave in unanticipated ways. Like other non-ideal systems, we must analogously modify behavioral models to describe and predict human performance.

Human and Organizational Performance (HOP) brings together this science by understanding HOW and WHY people make mistakes, especially mistakes that prove to be catastrophic, and WHAT you can do about them. Decades of human error science has shown that people fail at predictable rates and when we recognize these vulnerabilities to error, we can reduce our personal error rates. This philosophy can be integrated with an OD framework but it will require people, particularly leaders and mangers, to shift their mindset because when leadership improves, the entire organization improves. In other words, people will need to learn some new things (knowledge), say some new things (language), and do some new things (behavior). The origins of HOP are firmly grounded in research by James Reason, Jens Rasmussen, and W. Edwards Deming who were pioneers in industrial psychology, human factors, and total quality management. Thus, HOP is not just a safety program, but a paradigm shift in Operational Excellence that can improve Quality, Reliability, Cost, Productivity, Effectiveness, and Efficiency. A systems-based philosophy, HOP shifts the focus from fixing workers often perceived as the problem, to fixing the systems that influence the worker... human error is then viewed as a consequence of the system, not a cause. This shift in focus from the sharp end of the work to the supporting systems and culture is the essence of HOP. An OD program can drive a culture where mistakes are hidden, whereas HOP embraces people admitting mistakes and responding to them in a just and fair manner, which enables a culture with psychological safety.

When leadership is transparent and committed to understanding why things make sense to people when they deviate from a rule, standard, or expectation, this builds trust and has a powerful effect on the ability of the organization to learn and improve, not blame and punish. HOP is empathetic to the worker as the premise is built upon the notion that people are fallible and even the best make mistakes. The language we use matters...fix the system, fix it for good, fix the person, you only fix it for now. The author will describe the benefits of HOP, provide a roadmap to connect with an existing OD program, and discuss how the tools can be applied at home, at work, and at play.