Safety (Lesson 1 Article 2 Criteria for Designing)

(50) “To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to know where you’re going so that you better understand where you are now so that the steps you take are always in the right direction.” Stephen Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, 1989, p. 9

Some years ago, I read the Stephen Covey book and his view of the person needs for setting proper achievements and goals.

Covey says that values govern people's behavior, but principles ultimately determine the consequences. If each person would have a clear destination, it seems that there will never be any accidents therefore the world would become a safer place. There are many questions as how is it possible that each person has values, but those values can become contrary to someone else’s values, or together they would disregard the quality of all livings? Are the values different from person to person, or is the culture so different from group to group that it becomes sometimes impossible to have everybody in agreement? If our principles are so different, then obviously it becomes only a matter of chance when my imaginary design will come to realization or implementation. But what happens when the environment is designed in such way that it would prevent any wrong doing as being 100% safety proof?

Then all will need to happen is to design with the end in mind, while also considering all the factors that can be either internal or external that would impede its realization. What are the available tools that would help us to design by using certain criteria that would ensure that preventive methods will be properly implemented?

Most likely learning from past experiences is something that we would like to keep it on the checklist. Consulting the existing standards and developing newer standards that can be closely monitored as part of the prevention program, is another important task. We can build an interactive system that allows us to pre-design and then refine the final system. An interactive system can be built either in the boardroom by using paper and pencil, or developed by IT if the company has to implement larger transformations. If the prototype and its simulations are working properly then obviously the final design will have more chances of success. Still what are the chances that the final safety will have all the parameters built in, and that its behavior will meet the mindfully design?

The teams will need to have the same attitude towards results, but the environment in which they will perform the work design will need to be supportive. Understanding how much help they will need to have to implement the changes that will prevent accidents, is something that can happen only when all people will work together to the common goal. Although each one of us will think with the end in the mind, there is a need for all of us to come together to make it happen.