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How to Change Organizational Culture and Avoid Catastrophes
By Tom Krause • October 16, 2024Catastrophes are a risk in organizational life. From a quality issue that causes consumer fatalities and brings reputational damage to a hostile working environment leading to harassment or to employees becoming seriously or fatally injured. These things are usually a surprise to the senior-most leaders. “I knew we had some issues at that facility, but…Organizations Are Built on a Cultural Infrastructure
By Tom Krause • October 9, 2024Organizational culture has been defined in numerous ways. To some it’s about what we as a group really value — production, quality, technical excellence,safety, diversity, growth, profit, engagement, goalattainment, efficiency. From this perspective leaders start byunderstanding what they value, then develop what they thinkwe should value. Then they develop a strategy to get thosevalues established throughout the…A Bad Workplace Culture Can Result in a Disaster, No Matter the Industry
By Tom Krause • October 9, 2024A bad workplace culture is a hazard in itself. But even a mediocre one can contribute directly to a disaster. NASA won awards for being the “best place to work” among U.S government agencies. But the Space Shuttle Columbia failure, which resulted in the loss of seven astronauts and countless resources, was directly related to cultural…VIDEO: What are the key takeaways from “If Your Culture Could Talk”?
By Tom Krause • September 9, 2024There are two sections in Tom Krause’s book “If Your Culture Could Talk: A Story About Culture Change.” In this video he highlights the key takeaway from the initial story, and one of the five, research-based variables that leaders must pay attention to in order to build and maintain a strong culture.For more information on…What Leadership Needs to Know about Changing Organizational Culture
By Tom Krause • August 21, 2024SAY you have a manufacturing location with problems — three plant managers in two years, unusual variation in quality and/or safety, seemingly unpredictable swings in productivity. The options senior leadership considers may be to sell it, give it a defined period to show or go, or take on the task of rehabilitation.Leadership may wonder whether…For A Positive Workplace Culture, Make Words Match Decisions and Actions
By Tom Krause • August 19, 2024If organizational values on paper don’t match up with employee’s day-to-day experience, culture suffers. Here’s how to back them up with action.How often do organizations go through the motions of defining their company value statements, only to leave them to languish like just another exercise checked off the list? When organizational values such as integrity,…How Leaders Can Prevent Disasters: Learnings from NASA’s Space Shuttle Columbia Failure
By Tom Krause • August 15, 2024CNN’s four-part series, “Space Shuttle Columbia: The Final Flight,” tells the story of how a series of decisions made by competent, dedicated, and well-intentioned leaders set the stage for a safety exposure that brought down the Space Shuttle Columbia — an exposure that was not understood at the time. As an organizational psychologist, I’ve studied decision-making…VIDEO: What is the book, “If Your Culture Could Talk,” about?
By Tom Krause • August 14, 2024Tom Krause’s book “If Your Culture Could Talk: A Story About Culture Change” uses an entertaining, narrative format to shine a light on the ways in which the leaders of a troubled organization have shaped that organization’s culture. In this video, Tom summarizes the storyline and introduces each of the main characters.For more information on…Serious Injury and Fatality Prevention – 15 Years Later
By Tom Krause • May 31, 2024Our first study on serious injury and fatality prevention revealed that these types of incidents had very different precursors compared to other types of injuries. Now, taking this understanding to the next level, our continued research has shown the need to look at where organizations sit on the SIF Maturity Curve.
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Here you will find some of our best insights into safety leadership, culture, SIF Prevention and decision-making.
Organizational Decision Making for Safety: Part 2
When we think about the sheer numbers of decisions made by leaders the task of improving them all seems quite daunting. The study identified a subset of decisions which had the greatest impact on 60 serious and fatal events. This article outlines an improvement strategy for organizations based on the findings.
Organizational Decision Making for Safety: Part 1
The notion that leadership matters to organizational safety is intuitive for most people. Despite this understanding, safe decision making is an aspect of leadership that has not received enough attention.
