Just gimme some truth … (All we need is the truth) …

In his latest blog, Tim Marsh discusses truth and narrative in the workplace and its link to productivity. SHP hears more below… 

‘It is far easier to deceive a person than to then convince them they have been deceived.” – Mark Twain

On holiday recently I read a fascinating book about the nature of truth, facts and politically driven narrative and how, to put it mildly, they don’t always align all that well! (Fake History, 10 Great Lies … by Otto English).

He argues, for example, that Churchill was an excellent war leader in some respects but made all sorts of mistakes during WW1, enjoyed quite a lot of luck in the Second World War itself and generally had all sorts of (major) faults that manifested themselves in all sorts of important ways throughout his life. He’s certainly not remembered all that fondly in Ireland, Wales and India for example … and the first thing President Obama did was quietly send his bust off for ‘storage’ (People of Kenyan descendancy tending to not look on his legacy all that kindly either).
It also turns out that most ‘man of the people’ illustrative stories about him and witty quips were made up, but one famous quote that wasn’t made up was when he quipped that history would look favourably on him as he intended to write it. Then he did.
Other chapters cover why the Aztecs weren’t actually massacred by the conquistadors (but mostly by local militia) why Napoleon didn’t have a complex (and was of average height) and why Genghis Khan is much maligned. In short, a very interesting and strongly recommended read!
Over the summer I also watched a fascinating series about the creation of Fox News based on the book ‘The Loudest Voice in the Room’ which is all about the power of a simple well communicated narrative that resonates (whether it’s based on factual truth of not!). You may have noticed some political consequences of such efforts here in the UK and in some major countries east and west of us! (Make the country great again by taking back control of special operations or some such …)

The wellbeing, health and safety
It set me pondering on the whole notion of truth, fact and narrative sweep as it relates to the world of wellbeing, health and safety (or W, H & S). Having first thought perhaps it didn’t it then occurred to me that, actually, very obviously, it certainly does. Starting with the fact that, in our world, safety has been the loudest voice in the room for decades (‘we shout safety but whisper health’ was the old quote). However, it’s clear that mental health advocates have a voice now too. (The BOHS would leap in here to articulate their intense frustration about the relative lack of voice regarding long term exposure issues regardless of ‘breathe freely’ campaigns and breath-taking data. Pun intended).
Then, of course, in recent decades many ‘narrative’ consultants have advised boards to ‘write a letter to employees you want to be able to send them 5 years from now’ (then to plan a strategy working back from that).
A more practical case study example
A few years ago, we had a client with a CEO who clearly had a firm grasp of the concepts discussed above. He commissioned an extensive and international safety culture survey which took a considerable amount of time, travel and effort. When the data was collected and collated, we discussed which categorisations he was most interested in. By Country? Division? Department? …
It turned out to be none of those. Essentially, he just wanted one simple ‘external expert’ generated overall score – though already broadly knowing what it would be. He simply required the risk implications of having a merely average culture spelt out to his board in simple and direct terms. He felt (correctly) that they’d convinced themselves that they were ‘pretty good all things considered’. After all it had been years since the latest fatality and, despite the nature of the industry, serious injuries were reasonably infrequent. He sensed that, in short, his colleagues slept well at night but on his travels, he’d seen excellence for himself and he didn’t.
Why communicating a genuine vision matters
At this point it would be great fun to walk through some classic Freud (distortion, rationalisation, projection, denial and the like regarding the CEO’s colleagues) but it’s perhaps better to conclude with a focus on the importance of articulating a win:win. Issues like absenteeism, presenteeism, labour shortages and especially the turnover of key staff are forcing themselves into all sorts of c-suite discussion – not just ones with well-travelled and visionary CEOs. This is because, for many, it’s no longer about asking ‘is a lack of short-term investment a false economy?’ it’s about basic on-going business viability. (Here we need to consider the ‘great resignation’ of experienced workers and long covid.)
In short, a genuine W, H & S vision and strategy articulated with clarity and conviction has never been more important. (By genuine, I of course mean one with integrity behind it – even if it’s one with nothing but the financial side of win:win in mind.)
It’s tempting to allude to the classic Churchill quote above about the history of these dark days being written by the companies that survive them but quoting Homer Simpson about the problem of getting this wrong is perhaps more fun. The great philosopher once addressed the increasingly prevalent and understood issue of presenteeism thus:
“If you hate your job, don’t quit – just do it half-assed. It’s the American way”.
The trouble is, disengaged workers don’t just work slowly and sloppily – they don’t often get much job satisfaction, and therefore, the benefits of ‘good work is good for you’. This correlates with stress and poor mental health. They also tend to have less situational awareness, can be more fatalistic and are more likely to create risk for others. And these correlate with accidents.
(The usual challenge – the first reader (who would like a copy of Talking Health and Safety) wins one by naming the US President referenced in the song referenced in the title … )

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