Too Much of a Good Thing – Can You Go Overboard with Operational Discipline?

The effectiveness of a management system depends on the rigor with which we execute. With this, we define the concept of Operational Discipline as the rigor of conducting each task the right way, every time. Typically, however, the ‘right way’ is often interpreted synonymously with adhering to procedures. While adhering to procedures is certainly an important characteristics of an Operationally Disciplined culture, it is not the only one. Often neglected is the characteristic of being ‘risk sensitive’. In our work, we have encountered multitude of organizations with strong Operational Discipline, as defined from the perspective of conducting tasks according to procedures. However, incidents still happen and analysis points to the incomplete interpretation of Operational Discipline that results in a false sense of security within a ‘dependent’ culture. Over-reliance to procedures without being risk aware and therefore, without healthy sensitivity to risks, have been shown to contribute to the problem of blind trust. It erodes confidence within organization that believes it has built a disciplined culture. In this presentation, we share our experience in combating such problem by relying on simple tools and engagement strategy to build a culture that is truly operationally disciplined.