Dr. Beverly Chiodo has been invited to speak about Character at the 2010 TapRooT® Summit!
Dr. Chiodo is a professor in the Department of Management at Texas State University. Dr. Jerry Supple, former President of Texas State, said she has won every teaching award the university offers, and she’s been recognized for her teaching effectiveness at the state and national levels as well. In 1996, she was featured as “Hero of the Day” by CBS national TV program — This Morning. In 1997, Beverly was named “The Best Business Professor in the Nation” by the National Business Education Association. She has published widely in her field and is a frequent presenter at seminars and conferences.
Beverly earned her BBA degree from Baylor University, her MBA from Texas Tech, and her Ph.D. from Texas A&M. She is known by her students as the “Doctor of Encouragement.” Beverly says that her teaching philosophy can be summed up in the proverb which says, “A wise teacher makes learning a joy.”
This is Dr. Chiodo’s fourth year to appear at the Summit. Don’t miss the chance to hear these talks — as busy as she is, this may be the last chance you have to hear her at the Summit!
Here is some information about Dr. Chiodo’s sessions:
Character Driven Success
You will learn to:
* Motivate people to respond nobly to life’s challenges.
* Express specific ways others have benefited your life and the life of your organization.
* Discover the secret of “going the second mile.”
* Create an environment which builds rapport and team spirit.
The purpose of this session is to broaden your understanding of what makes communication powerful and effective. Dr. Beverly Chiodo will challenge you with a new perspective on how to motivate others to excellence.
Changing Behavior by Praising the 49 Character Traits
The purpose of Dr. Chiodo’s presentation is to enlarge your understanding of what makes communication powerful and effective. Dr. Beverly Chiodo will challenge you with a new perspective on how to motivate others to excellence.
As you participate, laugh, and refine your ability to speak and write, you will learn to influence and motivate others. Your life will be changed as Dr. Chiodo teaches you how to empower others.
Have you looked at the other world-class speakers on the “Improvement Program” track? Check out our track schedules on our Summit Schedules page: http://www.taproot.com/summit.php?t=schedule
Outstanding leaders know that accountability is vital and it extends to other internal core values such as honesty, competence, courage, compassion and honor. Outstanding leaders “wear” these core values like a coat draped around their shoulders because the core values are first and foremost personal, then professional … inside out, not outside in. Here are a few ways to “wear” those core values (traits).
“The glory of great men must always be measured against the means they have used to acquire it.” ~ Francois de la Rochefoucauld, writer
Uphold your values. “If you don’t have principled leaders, the other stuff doesn’t matter,” said Frances Hesselbein, President of the New York based Leader-to-Leader Institute. In the final analysis, when all is said and done, the character, integrity, honor and quality of the leader will determine the organization’s results.
“The first thing a great person does is make us realizethe insignificance of circumstance.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, poet
Be consistent. To be a truly great leader you know that means you can’t pick your spots. Regardless of the circumstances or situation, you can’t be a little dishonest or choose to have a bit less integrity today. When you choose to slide, even a little, from your internal core values, it’s easier to slide a second and third time. Then slowly but surely, you ‘slide’ farther and farther away from them. The result is it becomes more difficult to return to the internal core values you once held. It then becomes a “The Law of Self-Fulfilling Prophecy” and you break them again and again. It then becomes second nature.
“Actions start another’s trust like a starter starts a car.” ~ LT. Col Lynn Allen, USMCR (Ret)
Focus on results. That’s the best way to hold people accountable says Blythe McGarvie of Williamsburg, VA based LIF Group. Only reward staff based on the results they achieved and only when their work is successful but not if they miss their goals. Don’t base any rewards or acknowledgements on effort alone.
Be concise. Clearly and often enunciate your organization’s values; publish them in newsletters, reports and on plaques and other similar visual reinforcements. The most effective way is to share the values with employees and visitors at every opportunity.
Become the benchmark. People listen to the leader in the ‘conference room’ but watch them in the ‘hallway.’ They respond more to what the leader does than what the leader says he or she’s going to do. A leader’s actions must be congruent with their words; his or her actions are seamless and transparent. No difference between how they act in their personal lives and how they act at work.
“Leadership is a matter of how to be, not how to do,” says Hesselbein. “When they see you live and believe what you say, morale goes up and productivity soars.”
Act. When the leader sees the values being ignored, skewed or not reinforced, they take the necessary action to make sure to hold themselves and everyone else accountable. That’s accountability!
Be visible. No matter the situation, the leaders must remain visible to the staff and employees. When there’s bad news, don’t hide in your office or under the desk. Don’t delegate the message. Be the messenger. Deliver the news yourself. Best way to do this is LBWA-O: Lead By Walking Around-Outside. Make that the way you lead … out front and visible.
“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” ~ Steve Jobs, Apple co-founder
Remain focused. Establish goals that reinforce and stay true to the mission. Leaders run into problems when they deviate from their goals. Then it’s short step to compromise their core values.
“There is nothing worse than a brilliant image of a fuzzy concept.” ~ Ansel Adams, photographer
Ensure people feel vital and valued. This is accomplished through training and encouraging and supporting them to get involved in volunteering and philanthropy. This helps to add more purpose in their lives; knowing they are helping people in their community who are less fortunate.
Grasp the details. It’s important the leader knows the organization’s details … the numbers … people, financial, equipment and related resources. If you don’t know them or can’t understand them, they don’t seem reasonable or your presumptions don’t add-up, that should be a red flag. A bell should ring inside your head.
“Take care of those who work for you and you’ll float to greatness on their achievements.” ` H.S.M. Burns, oil industry executive
Captain George A. Burk will be presenting “Quality in Life and Work” on the Safety and Risk Management Track on Friday, October 29, 2010 at 8:00 a.m. at the Summit. The 2010 TapRooT® Summit will be held October 27-29, 2010 in San Antonio, Texas (with Pre-Summit Courses October 25-26). For more information about Captain Burk:
The Canon City Daily Record recently published two articles about Summit best practice speaker, Capt. George A. Burk, United States Air Force (retired):
1. Reconnecting with The Past: Just six days shy of the 40th anniversary of the deadly airplane crash that claimed his father’s life, Daryl Robinson will meet the sole survivor of that crash — the last person who saw his father alive (read article).
2. Resilient Survivor: Almost 40 years ago, he was alone in a field, surrounded by explosive aircraft wreckage, listening to the “snap crackle pop” of the fire that was consuming the debris and nearby trees — the fire that had burned more than 65 percent of his body — and he realized death was imminent (read article).
And register for the Summit! Captain Burk will be presenting “Quality in Life and Work” on the Safety and Risk Management Track on Friday, October 29, 2010 at 8:00 a.m.
Ever attend a conference or training event, and walk away feeling like there was one piece of the puzzle that you really needed an answer to but you just didn’t get? We want to assure you that you won’t feel that way about the TapRooT® Summit!
Did you know that you can easily customize your Summit schedule so that every single session you attend is relevant to your most pressing issues? That’s right! You can choose a track (there are nine tracks), and then you can change one, two or more sessions within your track to make it a perfect fit. Not only can you jump over to any another track to choose a session that interests you, but this year we are offering “Special Topics” that you can also choose from.
Special Topics offer additional options this year (some of them are brand new) and include:
Know the Law When Dealing with MSHA After a Serious Accident
PowerPoint Tips and Tricks
Solving Equipment Reliability Problems
Asset Management Problems and Solutions
Medical TapRooT® Instructor Update
What Does Management Need to Know About Root Cause Analysis (Discussion Session)
Sustainable Development
Prioritizing Improvement
We think you’ll appreciate the opportunity to have more custom choices. Be sure to check them out when you register for the Summit
If you can only attend one conference/training this year — why not choose the one that will best fit your needs? The TapRooT® Summit! Attend the Summit and go back to work and use what you’ve learned. If you don’t get at least 10 times the return on your investment, simply return the Summit materials and we’ll refund the entire Summit fee.
If you have questions about how to put all the pieces together, give us a call at 865.539.2129.
Mining companies, along with most other companies, work diligently and continually to identify weaknesses or problems in their safety and management practices to prevent unwanted events from happening. Through their efforts to identify root cause, companies can develop best practices which will prevent reoccurrence of the event and reduce the probability of a serious incident/accident from occurring. However, even with these efforts, a serious incident/accident can still happen. When a serious event occurs that may involve an outside agency, companies need to be aware of what to expect and have an effective plan in place during the investigation. Companies need to know what their rights are, as well as their managers, and their employees.
We’ve planned a best practice session to address this at the 2010 TapRooT® Summit, “Know the Law When Dealing with MSHA After a Serious Accident.”
This presentation will review the requirements of the Federal Mine Safety Act and outline some recommendations and guidelines on how to deal with other agencies, specifically the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). The discussion will include the requirements in the Federal Act as it relates to incident reporting, preservation of evidence, employees rights, interviewing process and other information relating to the investigation conducted by MSHA. With this information, companies can effectively work with the outside agency and successfully identify causal factors that contributed to the event.
Ken Scott will be leading this session. Ken worked for the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) as an Instructor at the National Mine Health & Safety Academy. He developed MSHA’s Accident Investigation Training Program, and investigated many mining accidents including mine explosions. Ken is a Certified Mine Safety Professional and a TapRooT® instructor. He has a BS in Agriculture, and a MS in Safety (Mining).
This best practice session is just one of the many special topics you can choose from when you customize your Summit track. If you like customizing your conference so that each session is relevant in answering your most pressing questions, the Summit was designed for you! Visit the Summit schedule page to view more options!
What is the latest in the world of safety compliance? Learn what OSHA has been citing, current inspection emphasis programs, the A-Z’s of the Site Specific Target Program, and inspection and citation handling tips at the 2010 TapRooT® Summit. Dave Janney will be teaching “Ahead of the Law: OSHA Enforcement Problems & Solutions.”
Dave Janney is a Senior Associate for System Improvements, Inc. He is retired from Delta Air Lines where he was the Corporate Safety Manager/Quality Auditor, and was a former OSHA VPP Special Government Employee. Dave is a Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence, Quality Auditor, and Quality Improvement Associate (American Society for Quality), and is an authorized outreach trainer of OSHA 10/30 hour courses. He has a BS in Business Management, and an MBA in International Management.
The 2010 TapRooT® Summit is scheduled for October 27-29 on the San Antonio, Texas Riverwalk. Don’t miss the opportunity to bring solutions to your facility!
Personal and professional conduct codes may seem basic when it comes to leaders demonstrating and encouraging ethical behavior. I’ve worked for leaders who mirrored the types of ethical behavior they wanted their staff to emulate, both on and off duty.
I’ve also worked for and witnessed leaders and specific staff who thought ethics were for everyone else; a one-time thing to be used only when it was professionally convenient or made them appear and sound ethical. The ‘leaders’ or specific staff espoused and “preached” ethics but when they thought no one was looking or no one would find out, their true colors shone loud and clear. They always appeared out front to verbally reinforce specific ethical standards written in manuals, orders and memos. But when it came time to demonstrate those behaviors, often at organization and personal sponsored events, these individuals came up short. Through their words and actions, they often violated the specific ethical rules they ‘championed’ and were expected to follow themselves. The rules were meant for others, not themselves. This was especially true after they received a promotion.
“Wise leaders generally have wise counselors.”
Diogenes, philosopher
But recent studies indicate Ethical Codes are more than basic—they have a huge impact.
Here are a few tips to help make them work:
Write the Code(s). Lisa Shu, a recent graduate student at Harvard University and two professors found that simply putting a code of conduct in place cut cheating in half. But Shu and co-authors Francesca Gino, an assistant professor at North Carolina, and Max Bazerman, a professor at Harvard Business School, discovered that there’s an even stronger impact when people sign the code. They become owners of it. Taking that step virtually eliminated unethical conduct.
“People underestimate the impact of these codes,” Shu said. “But it’s a nudge in the right direction.”
Customize it. Many organizations use a kind of boilerplate code of ethics. Don’t use only a consultant. Get the organization’s key staff and employees involved in the development and implementation of the code. Consultants don’t have to live with and by the code they help develop. The leadership and employees do! This is one important way to get leadership and employees to “Commit and enroll.”
For example, Johnson and Johnson’s Code of Ethics, their “Credo” lists shareholders last.
John and Johnson believe if it does all else right, shareholders will gain, too. The Credo matches the belief s of the firm’s people.
Ethical behavior should become more defined, with more accountability, not less, the higher you rise in the organization. This is especially true in politics at the national, state and local levels.
“I believe every right implies a responsibility, every opportunity an obligation, every possession a duty.”
John D. Rockefeller,Jr., oil executive
Set the tone. Shu’s research found that more people cheated when no one kept tabs on them and held them accountable. On the surface, that may see quite obvious. However, people often define ethics and integrity as doing the right thing even if no one is watching. “Environmental cues matter a lot,” Shu said. “It’s shocking how much of our morality does depend on our environment.”
Reinforce it. The people who cheated remembered only one part of the code of conduct, Shu’s study found. The honest ones remembered five parts of the code. That could be a memory issue or perhaps the cheaters way to try and justify their actions. Find the means and methods to reinforce the code of ethics at every opportunity at staff meetings, training sessions and through the organizations electronic mail and newsletters. Case studies are an effective tool to reinforce the code.
“The greatest conflicts are not between two people, but between one person and himself.”
Garth Brooks, singer
Live with and by the code. Walk the talk. Think it, live it; breathe it. Make it one of your personal core values. It must be seamless, (really) transparent and sequential. Personal, then professional. Inside out, NOT outside in.
“Abraham Lincoln did not go to Gettysburg having commissioned a poll to find out what would sell in Gettysburg. There were no people with percentages for him, cautioning him about this group or that, what they found in exit polls a year earlier.”
Robert Coles, author
It’s far worse and more destructive to put a code of conduct in place and ignore it than to not have one at all. Absent a code, employees may believe the ethical dilemma wasn’t completely thought through. Ignoring the code shows it just didn’t matter to those at the top of the organization. That type of attitude breeds even more cynicism among the employees.
Train your staff. Train up and down and across the organization. Not just once or to “fill the square” of some governmental or hierarchal requirement. Make ethics training and the Code of Conduct a part of the organizations quarterly, semi-annul and annual training processes. That demonstrates that the organization’s serious about ethics and the code. But…training aside, there’s nothing better or more effective than mirroring the behavior you want! Train all levels of staff and the senior levels, too. Lead by example.
Follow-up. After the code is in place and the initial training is completed, the real work has just started. Organizations must put in place various methods like whistle-blower hotlines (don’t shoot the messenger), to help uncover any errors or wrongdoing. Organizations must have specific enforcement plans in place and be willing and capable of taking whatever preventive measures that may be required. Accountability is key!
See it through. When leaders find any number of emotionally convenient and comfortable reasons (excuses) to stop reminding their staff (and family) of the importance of acting in an ethical manner with integrity and honor, the staff (and family) may soon forget of its importance. The results are the staff (and family member) may resort to cheating and/or cutting corners on their behavior. They may revert to the behavior of least resistance and most familiar and comfortable.
“Ninety-nine percent of failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.”
George Washington Carver, botanist
Always presume (never assume) the best. When you develop and write the code of conduct, write it with the expectation, mind-set and core belief that people are basically honest and want to do the right thing and take the proper action. Don’t write a list of don’ts, Shu says.
A personal observation. Recently, my wife and I attended our 13 year-old nephews 7th grade flag football game. One of the rules is the quarterback must throw the football within four seconds. If he doesn’t, it’s a loss of a play. Each team has 10 plays per possession. There’s one referee per game. A father on our nephew’s school team watched as the referee continued to give the opponent’s team’s quarterback up to 10 seconds to throw the ball. An obviously violation of the spirit and intent of the rule and gave the opponents an unfair advantage.
After the first quarter, the father approached the referee to question him about the apparent rules violation. What the referee did was a surprise, even to me. He didn’t call time-out and take a few seconds to listen to the parent’s concern. What the referee did was throw the yellow flag at the feet of the parent—a penalty against our nephew’s team—and began to scream at the parent. My wife and I were seated about 30 yards away and we could hear the referee’s loud and inappropriate words and watch his obnoxious behavior. Other parents heard it and sadly, so did the young 13 year-old players.
There was a part of me that was surprised and a part of me that wasn’t. As a former high school and college athlete and parent, I’ve seen this type of behavior from parents, referees and individual players most of my life. From this recent example, there’s no doubt in my mind the referee felt he was being challenged. His ego, authority and position were, in his mind, at risk. Given his physical stature, attitude and overall disposition, my concept of the “frustrated jock syndrome” was alive and well. After the game, I suggested to my wife that the parent should report the referee’s unethical behavior and actions to school officials. ‘Adults’ like this shouldn’t be refereeing or coaching at any level! I know I wouldn’t have stood there and taken his verbal abuse.
Parents and officials need to let the kids play. It’s NOT brain surgery and life and death. (Though in some cases you’d think it was.) Ethics, integrity, honor and character start at home. Parents need to stop living vicariously through their child’s athletic endeavors. ‘We won, the kids lost.’ Teach them to play hard, give no quarter, expect none in return, play fair and leave it all on the field or court. And model the behavior!
And yes, our nephew’s team lost. But he really won! Our nephew’s a winner!
“The important thing is to learn a lesson every time you lose.”
JohnMcEnroe, tennis champion
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This article was reprinted with permission from Captain George Burk, USAF (Ret), Speaker, trainer, author & writer. Captain Burk is a plane crash & burn survivor. He will be speaking about how to achieve quality in life and work at the 2010 TapRooT® Summit. Visit his website at: www.georgeburk.com.
The culture that exists within your company greatly effects the success of any investigation and subsequent corrective actions. At the 2010 TapRooT® Summit, Brian A. Tink will be co-presenting “How Does Your Corporate Culture Effect Your Investigations” (with Brian W. Tink) to help your organization promote a successful culture.
This session will show you some ways to quantify & identify your current corporate culture. The session will conclude by suggesting how you can use this information to strengthen your organizational/safety culture, allowing you to develop and execute more effective corrective actions that will, in turn, lead to desired and significantly improved business results.
Brian A. Tink has recently graduated from the University of Ontario Institute of Technology with a Honours Bachelor of Arts Degree in Criminology and Justice. His degree provides Brian the educational background to address and identify the cultural aspects of populations which are necessary to successfully implement corporate programs. Working with Watershape Safety Analysis Inc. Brian currently assists companies to identify and transform their organizational culture. He co-created a two day course which allows participants to use the Taproot tree in order to improve their organization’s culture. Brian is a certified instructor and facilitator using Human Synergistics’ culture and individual assessment tools.
View more best practice sessions on our schedules page, and make plans to attend the 2010 Summit!
Editor’s Note: Our partner in the UK, Matrix Risk Control Ltd, offers a course that uses state-of-the-art training techniques and experienced detectives to help corporate managers completely understand the challenges they face if the unthinkable, a fatality, happens: the criminal investigation; meeting the grieving relatives; and facing the press. We have invited Matrix Risk Control to teach a pre-Summit course (October 25-26, 2010 in San Antonio) that takes the lessons from the UK course and teaches them to an international audience. For more info, e-mail info@taproot.com or call us at 865-539-2139.
It will soon be two years since the landmark Corporate Manslaughter Act 2007 came into effect in April 2008, on the statute books of the United Kingdom.
The Act provided a huge wake up call for Senior Management of organisations throughout the length and breadth of the country, and although there has yet to be a conviction and only a handful of prosecutions, the legislation serves as a constant reminder of the consequences of inadequate preparation and training.
Substantial fines or imprisonment are the consequences of failing to comply with the legislation and companies throughout the UK have been reviewing their contingency plans to make sure their houses are in order.
Crisis management specialists Matrix Risk Control (UK) Ltd provide
a unique and insightful training experience for directors and senior managers using
• realistic accident investigation scenarios;
• clear explanations of legal duties;
• practical guidance on police and regulatory investigations.
Matrix Risk Control utilises the world-leading R2S camera technology, initially developed to assist with murder investigations, to bring the incident to the boardroom and allow delegates to explore the scene in an immersive and visually intensive way. Practical advice is delivered by experienced investigators, all former senior detectives, who have led many high profile workplace fatality enquiries both onshore and offshore.
As an incident unfolds delegates are briefed on their duties and the steps they can take to protect themselves and their organisation during an investigation by the Police or Health and Safety Executive.
Over the course of a full day, an interactive and dynamic training programme tests the management skills of those required to take key decisions but in a controlled environment. The highlight of the day is an opportunity to face the challenge and pressure of a police “interview under caution” conducted by former senior police officers.
In addition, delegates may be required to consider how to respond to the demands of the media and also those of grieving relatives.
The course concludes with delegates being led through a jury exercise where they have the opportunity to consider the legal position in light of the evidence produced and deliver their verdict.
Mhorvan Sherret, Director, Matrix Risk Control, said “There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that senior executives who attend our course will leave the classroom energised and motivated to have an introspective look at their own organisations, but more importantly, will be armed with vital information and tools to cope in the event of a work place fatality”.
Contact Matrix Risk Control (UK) Ltd for more information at:
info@matrixriskcontrol.com www.matrixriskcontrol.com
The TapRooT® Instructor Update session is scheduled for the 2010 Summit in San Antonio, Texas, October 27-29, 2010. This session is designed for Certified TapRooT® Instructors only. In this session, the students will receive the new instructor material as well as their updated date plaques which show that their certifications are current.
Michelle Young will be helping Certified TapRooT® Instructors in this session again this year. Michelle has been with System Improvements since 2007 as the Licensing Paralegal and TapRooT® Implementation Strategist. She writes Licenses for clients and assists with negotiations. She also maintains and oversees the Certified TapRooT® Instructor database information and helps clients become certified. Michelle has her BS in Legal Studies and AS in Paralegal Studies as well as some informal training.
If you have questions about maintaining your certified status, contact us at info@taproot.com. For more information about the schedule for the Certified TapRooT® Instructor Track, visit our website.
Dan Phillippe will be teaching a session about how some leading companies used TapRooT® to improve their OSHA VPP (Voluntary Protection Programs) processes so you can get some ideas about how to leverage the capabilities of TapRooT®.
Dan is the PSM Coordinator at the Illinois Refining Division of Marathon Oil Corporation. During his 33 years of employment at Marathon, he has contributed to Operations, Personal Safety, Process Safety Management, and Training. Dan is a Certified TapRooT® Instructor.
Learn more about the 2010 line up of speakers and presentations on the Summit website!
Once you attend a TapRooT® course and learn how to use the techniques, the real challenge begins! How do you actually start a real investigation? What do you need to know in order to efficiently lead a team of investigators? Questions like these are why so many course attendees plan to attend the TapRooT® Summit. The Summit is a place where TapRooT® users gather to discuss best practices, like innovative ideas for leading investigation teams. In 2010, Ken Reed will be teaching “Ideas for Leading Investigation Teams.” In this talk, he’ll discuss:
- Preparations required before an incident occurs
- The first steps when you receive that phone call
- How you actually use the TapRooT® tools during the course of a real-world investigation
Ken Reed is a Senior Associate at System Improvements, and brings 21 years of US Navy nuclear operator and supervisor experience having served on numerous fast attack, ballistic missile, and research submarines. He is currently the Project Manager for the Equifactor® Equipment Troubleshooting module of the TapRooT® software, overseeing course and software updates and revisions. He holds a B.S. in Electronics Management from Southern Illinois University. He was born and raised in Watertown, NY, and currently resides in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Come to the Summit to learn advanced techniques like these and many more. Join us on the Riverwalk in San Antonio, Texas, October 27-29. (Learn more!)
We’ve scheduled two sessions at the October 2010 Summit where attendees will have the opportunity to learn valuable coaching skills:
1) Coach for Improved Corrective Action Development Implementation
Participants walk away with coaching skills and a coaching model that can be used in any work environment to support improving human performance in the workplace.
2) Coaching Skills to Sustain Behavior Change
Participants walk away with coaching skills and a coaching model that can be used in any work environment to support creating behavioral change in the workplace.
Both sessions will be taught by Jennifer Mounce. Jennifer is the founder of Coach Effect, Inc., a leadership coaching & organizational development boutique in San Francisco, California. With more than fifteen years of corporate experience in human resources and in coaching senior executives, Jennifer uses her expertise to partner with companies and increase their overall effectiveness by coaching, training, and consulting with mid– and senior level managers. Jennifer is a published author of two books and a professional speaker. Jennifer is a graduate of the Coach University Coach Training Program. Jennifer received her Bachelor’s in Speech Communication from University of Illinois and Master’s in Human Resource Management from Loyola University Chicago. She is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources and is currently working toward her Professional Coach Certification.
Are you ready for the 2010 Summit? Learn more on our website!
Linda Unger & Michele Lindsay facilitated a TapRooT® User Best Practice Sharing Session at the 2009 TapRooT® Summit. The video below shows one of the best practices that was presented by Buck Griffith for his group. Watch and learn …
Ralph Brickey will be sharing “Ideas for Changing Behavior When Working Outside Western Culture” at the 2010 Summit in San Antonio, Texas (October 27-29, 2010).
This session will explore issues of working with conflicting cultural thought when seeking to establish norms for investigations and implementing change in other cultures. Through a simple exercise participants will first examine a few of their own western “norms” and then apply these in a case study involving an investigation of a confined space incident that resulted in the deaths of two workers in an eastern culture.
Ralph Brickey’s experience in facilitating individuals and teams through transformational change has given him an appreciation for the potential for sustainable high performance within every organization. His work with exceptional leaders at all levels has confirmed the importance of developing the spirit of leaders to enable them to inspire organizations to achieve results. Ralph works with organizations to prepare and empower facilitators and culture change leaders to effectively impact the attainment of a thriving high performance culture.
Ralph has ten years experience facilitating insight-based learning experiences and working with teams to enhance effectiveness and performance. He has facilitated numerous root cause analysis learning experiences with many corporate clients throughout the United States and Canada. He has a special interest in improving cultures to impact safety in organizations. As program manager for Tennessee Valley Authority’s STAR 7 culture-shaping program, Ralph coached both internal facilitators and executives on their leadership skills. His successful experience with executives, first line leaders, and union members has given him unique insights into thriving cultures and the ability to move comfortably from sector to sector when working with organizations.
Ralph holds a Doctor of Education in Collaborative Learning from the University of Tennessee. His research interests are dialogue and reflective practice. Ralph is curious about almost everything and interested in the rest. He is beginning to research the impact of culture on safety within high risk organizations. He has represented the University of Tennessee in facilitating two seminars on Action Research in Thailand.
Ralph lives in Kingston, Tennessee with his wife Janice. Ralph enjoys traveling and exploring out of the way places. He is very interested in amateur archaeology and has visited the Angkor Wat complex in Cambodia, Authyia in Thailand, the Khyber Pass in Pakistan/Afghanistan, and most of the major pyramids and sites in Mexico and Central America. He enjoys playing with his three young grandsons and introducing them to bicycles, motorcycles, jeeps, caves, cliffs and kayaks, just a few of his many and varied interests. He frequently rides long distance bicycle tours both solo and with groups. His longest ride was a 3,000 mile Pacific to the Atlantic coast ride in 27 days.
“As an explorer, I am excited about partnering with organizations to explore and appreciate together what I believe is the unlimited potential for growth and excellence of performance in both individuals and teams to create healthy high performance safety cultures.”
“Best Practices for Implementing TapRooT® into an Existing Incident Management System” is just one idea that will be discussed October 27-29 at the 2010 TapRooT® Summit in San Antonio, Texas.
At this TapRooT® Summit session, Patrick Fortune will be speaking on the “exhilaration and tribulations” of incorporating TapRooT® into an existing Incident Management System. Expect to take away some Best Practices and even some learnings from Patrick’s mistakes, giving you the freedom not to repeat them yourself! Patrick describes his focus as a mix of “speaking truth to power, no matter what the consequences” and “let’s work the problem people.”
Patrick began his industrial career in the Operations department of a “state of the art” pulp mill. Midstride in his career, he moved into the Oil & Gas industry with EnCana Corporation. He progressed through a variety of Operations positions in Heavy Oil, Sour Gas and Power Generation with EnCana. Patrick was then enticed to join the “dark side” as a Safety Coordinator with EnCana’s EH&S division, where he has been for 5 years. Last year Patrick successfully challenged the Canadian Registered Safety Professional Designation (CRSP). He also has a liberal arts degree in Biblical Studies, and a 2nd Class Power Engineer Certificate of Competency.
Patrick has been the “go to guy” for the integration of TapRooT® into the existing Crisis Response and Incident Management Systems, within EnCana’s Canadian Division. He is a certified In House Trainer for TapRooT® and has been involved with numerous serious incident investigations across two provinces in Canada. Patrick has also served as on scene liaison with Police and anti terrorist task forces, during the investigation of several domestic terrorist attacks against EnCana.
On a personal note Patrick has enjoyed a wide variety of activities including hiking, snowboarding, hang gliding, flying small aircraft and sailplanes, rock climbing, motorcycling, martial arts, drama, and now has his eye on powered paragliding (and a bigger bike … ). When questioned about the dichotomy between “safety guy” and his love of higher risk activities he will respond with “risk management, it’s all about risk management.” His marvelous (& patient) wife of 25 years will roll her eyes at that statement, given that their two teenagers are unfortunately now using similar rebuttals …
Come to the Summit in October and meet Patrick for a fresh set of ideas about investigations! Learn more about the Summit on our FAQs page.
Linda Unger & Michele Lindsay facilitated a TapRooT® User Best Practice Sharing Session at the 2009 TapRooT® Summit. The video below shows one of the best practices that was presented by Steve Cavanaugh for his group. Watch and learn …
Have you created some corrective actions that look great on paper, but when implemented have had little or no effect? You may be missing a very important, yet often overlooked, aspect to your organization … its culture.
Brian W. Tink will be presenting “Corrective Actions for Culture Problems (Fixing Employee Communications NI + More)” at the 2010 TapRooT® Summit.
Organizational culture has been proven to have a measurable and significant impact on safety, job performance, and the organization’s bottom line. Find out how you can create corrective actions that can improve your performance while positively shaping your organization’s culture at the Summit.
About the presenter:
During the latter part of Brian Tink’s career at Hydro One (starting in 1994), he specialized in health, safety and environmental matters. Before pursuing other interests, he held the title of Manager of Health, Safety & Environment Field Support for Hydro One Networks, Inc. This branch of Hydro One delivers electrical service to homes and businesses across the province of Ontario, Canada. Hydro One owns over 90,000 miles of Transmission and Distribution Lines, serves 1.3 million customers with 4,600 regular employees.
In this position, while reporting to the VP HSE, he was called to analyze and investigate safety incidents that occurred. He has facilitated or been part of the action plan development for numerous investigations, approximately 30-40 per year since 2000. The position involved working with and reviewing incident reports and action plans with other Line of Business VP’s and Directors. The lines of business included Construction, Lines, Station Maintenance and Forestry type work activities. He has also been called to lead or participate in investigations where a high level of scrutiny is expected for the results or there is significant need to identify areas of improvement.
During his career, he had the opportunity to attend an extensive amount of training and seminars. The training resulted in becoming a Certified Registered Safety Professional in Canada and a Certified Utility Safety Administrator through the National Safety Council in the USA. Both of these certifications require safety management theoretical knowledge, testing and several years safety management experience.
Rob Fisher and Ron Pryor will discuss how Alcoa Davenport Works improved performance by using TapRooT® tools to identify vulnerabilities, and known error reduction techniques to reduce the probability of events related to human errors during their “Combining TapRooT® with INPO’s Error Prevention Tools to Improve Human Performance” session at the 2010 TapRooT® Summit.
Ron Pryor is a Senior Staff Safety Engineer, and the facility’s Human Performance Coordinator, at Alcoa’s Davenport Works aluminum rolling mill in Bettendorf, Iowa. Ron’s 29 year Alcoa career has included assignments in Operating Line Management, Production Planning and Supply Chain, and over 17 years in Health and Safety, where he has worked with the full spectrum of safety programs and initiatives. Ron is currently leading and coordinating the integration of human performance concepts, including root cause analysis, across all organizational functions. Ron is a Certified Safety Professional, a Certified TapRooT® Instructor, and a member of ASSE. Ron attended Wittenberg University (BA Business Administration) and West Virginia University (MS Safety Management). After spending a significant portion of the past 20 years coaching and officiating youth soccer, volleyball, and basketball, Ron completed a 300 mile bicycle ride across Iowa in the summer of 2009.
Rob Fisher is currently the owner and president of Fisher IT, Inc. and Global Procedure Services, LLC. Rob has extensive experience in performing event investigations, designing performance improvement systems, designing and improving corrective action programs, designing and running procedure programs, and educating staff. He is a sought after trainer, and is routinely invited to speak at international, national and regional conferences on safety, procedures, performance improvement, human performance and event investigation.
For more information about presentations planned for the 2010 TapRooT® Summit, visit our website.
Linda Unger & Michele Lindsay facilitated a TapRooT® User Best Practice Sharing Session at the 2009 TapRooT® Summit. The video below shows one of the best practices that was presented by William Missal for his group. Watch and learn …
Having trouble getting away from those old, standard corrective actions that don’t seem to last? Get a glimpse on how to best use your most valuable resource, your intellectual capital in coming up with corrective actions that are new, different and effective. Tap into the creativity that we all have, but often can’t find in this fun, fast moving and innovative session.
Michele Lindsay will be teaching “Get ‘Outside the Box’ Corrective Actions” at the 2010 TapRooT® Summit (October 27-29 in San Antonio, Texas).
Michele has been a certified Instructor for the TapRooT® System since 1998. As an “outside of the box” thinker, Michele was formally trained in creative thinking techniques in 1994. Recognizing innovation as a key competency in the “new” economy and the challenges and limitations of improvement teams to come up with effective and innovative solutions to problems, Michele leads and facilitates improvements with teams. She a Certified Instructor of the Six Thinking Hats™ and teaches an Innovation and Creative Thinking Workshop that helps individuals and teams break out of the limits of day to day thinking.
Learn more about Michele and our other speakers on our website!
These don’t have to happen. We know how to stop these fatalities. No new science needs to be invented. Each trench collapse fatality is a needless loss of life.
Here’s a video demonstrating a collapse…
And here’s a trench cave in that occurred while an Oregon OSHA Inspector was filming…
Luckily the man “in-the-hole” was not killed in the second example. But many are not as lucky.
Back in 2003, I wrote an article called “Stop the Sacrifices.” It was an emotional appeal to the construction industry to stop these needless deaths. It caused a lot of controversy.
Perhaps the construction industry has improved since them. I know that some companies have. But others continue to put peoples’ lives at risk by promoting shortcuts (or at least turning a blind-eye to their workers’ taking shortcuts) and not promoting best practices to keep people safe.
If you are responsible for construction work and trenching, take a moment to review what you are doing to keep workers safe. A new sewer line or a broken water pipe isn’t worth someone’s life.
If you would like to learn more about best practices to improve safety, consider attending the 2010 TapRooT® Summit. The Safety & Risk Management Track has these Best Practice Sessions that will give you ideas to improve performance:
No, Poka-Yoke is not an exciting new dance like the TapRooT® Shuffle we saw at the 2009 Summit (but you can be sure the reception planned for 2010 will also exceed your expectations!).
As much fun as the Summit is, the real reason we all come together is to learn new skills to save lives, reduce risk, improve safety, change behavior, stop human errors, improve production (and more!)
Poka-Yoke (pronounced POH-kah YOH-kay) refers to mistake-proofing techniques that either keep mistakes from occurring or indicate immediately when mistakes do occur. Dr. John Grout will be teaching how mistake proofing techniques can be used to improve patient safety and to stop human error at the 2010 TapRooT® Summit, October 27-29 in San Antonio, Texas. Summit attendees will have the opportunity to add these two informative best practice sessions to their custom schedule:
1. Using Mistake Proofing to Improve Patient Safety
The remedy for many of healthcare’s ills “is in changing systems of work. The remedy is in design,” says IHI’s Don Berwick. Healthcare needs a diverse set of tools that will help their personnel know what to do differently; to give them a different “vocabulary” of responses to medical errors that lead to lasting improvements. Rick Croteau of the Joint Commission states, “techniques for designing safe processes are also known, waiting only to be adapted to health care.” Mistake-proofing is one such technique that is a crucial addition to the tools used to improve patient safety. Mistake-proofing is a very powerful set of techniques that either keep errors and defects from occurring or indicate immediately when they do occur. It relies on creativity and common sense to create low cost, effective design changes that reduce errors. If you wish your organization’s personnel would just pay attention or if mistakes happen repeatedly, mistake-proofing provide a better solution.
2. Using Mistake Proofing to Stop Human Error
Significant injuries are avoided and dollars are saved by companies around the world when they implement simple ideas that either eliminate the chance for a mistake to occur or make a mistake easy to detect. This concept (and the techniques that generate these simple fixes) is called Mistake-Proofing. It is also known as Poka-Yoke (pronounced POH-kah YOH-kay). This session will help you find practical, effective ways to remove the opportunities for error. What will you learn?
· Why we make mistakes
· Basic concepts of mistake-proofing
· Where mistake-proofing works well and where it does not
· Where mistake proofing fits in your quality or safety toolbox
· How to create poka-yokes that solve quality or safety problems
John Grout is Dean of the Campbell School of Business at Berry College, Rome, Georgia, and the David C. Garrett Jr. Professor of Business Administration.
Dr. Grout has researched mistake-proofing extensively for the past 16 years. In 2004 John received the Shingo Prize for his paper, The Human Side of Mistake-Proofing with Douglas Stewart. The Shingo prize is named after Shigeo Shingo, noted industrial engineer and one of the developers of the Toyota Production System. The Shingo Prize has been described by Business Week as the “Nobel Prize of Manufacturing.”
LEARN MORE about Dr. Grout and our other exciting line-up of Best Practice presenters on our webpage!
Linda Unger & Michele Lindsay facilitated a TapRooT® User Best Practice Sharing Session at the 2009 TapRooT® Summit. The video below shows one of the best practices that was presented by Ryan Cezair for his group. Watch and learn …
Effectively communicating HSE risks to senior management is critical. Their support for resources (time and money) is necessary to implement actions that reduce risk. Strong visual communications and other techniques are needed to get the message across in a way that leads to action and increased credibility for HSE issues. One of the keys is to present HSE information from a business perspective.
Dennis Osmer, former Worldwide Head of HSE, will be teaching “Communicating with Management About Risk” at the 2010 TapRooT® Summit (October 27-29 in San Antonio, Texas). If you attended the Summit last year, you may remember his presentation, “Pursuit of World Class EH&S” (if not, you may view the presentation here). In 2010, he will be back to review development of several risk communication techniques (risk assessment in terms of organizational impact & degree of control vs. probability & severity, use of site risk analysis, score cards, involvement in accident notifications, etc.).
Dennis is a TapRooT® Instructor with over 40 years of industrial experience – the last seven years of his career as the World Wide Head of Health, Safety, Environment (HSE) and Emergency Management at CIBA Vision (a business unit of Novartis). There, he was responsible for the HSE activities for all of CVs operations (14 supply chain sites, 37 sales and marketing group companies, 11,000 employees on 3 continents). He has a pragmatic approach to developing and implementing HSE strategy which balances employee safety, environmental protection and business needs. He is a recognized expert with a track record of delivering performance.
His most recent activities were with Pandemic Preparedness, energy efficiency improvements, auditing, due diligence, new site start-up and HSE strategies for world class performance. While with a different business unit, he was the deputy chief of an industrial brigade and part of a community outreach program.
Dennis has an MBA in general management and finance from Fairleigh Dickinson University, and a BA in mathematics from the same university.
What’s the most effective way to learn how to communicate with management about risk? Attend the 2010 Summit! View our schedule of best practice sessions and hand pick one that answers your most pressing questions today!
Quality Improvement can be applied to your personal life and your business. It’s sequential—inside out, not outside in. George Burk was critically burned and severely injured, the sole survivor of 14 passengers in a military plane crash. Learn how several of W. Edward Deming’s 14 Points for Quality Improvement assisted him in his recovery, rehabilitation and transformation from victim to survivor. Hear and learn how you can apply several of Deming’s points—to help you and help you assist others to achieve success in life and business. Burk will be teaching, “Quality in Life and Work” at the 2010 TapRooT® Summit, October 27-29 in San Antonio, Texas.
George Burk (Scottsdale Arizona) is a nationally recognized motivational speaker, author and trainer.
In May 1970, he was the sole survivor of 14 passengers in a military plane crash. The crew was enroute to Spokane, Washington to conduct an operational analysis. Ascending through 3000’, the aircraft experienced rapid de-compression and massive structural failure, crashing in the hills near Schellville, California. He suffered severe burns and multiple internal injuries. Captain Burk spent 90 days in Intensive Care where he had two Near Death Experiences, and spent 18 months in the hospital. He was medically retired from the Air Force in 1971. Learn more about Captain Burk on the Summit Website.
Linda Unger & Michele Lindsay facilitated a TapRooT® User Best Practice Sharing Session at the 2009 TapRooT® Summit. The video below shows one of the best practices that was presented by Renauld Washington for his group. Watch and learn …
How do high performing organizations design their continuous improvement systems?
How do these organizations use and improve their continuous improvement systems over time?
What options exist for setting up a high impact continuous improvement system?
What types of teams do you need?
Learn the answers to these questions while also providing an overview of the tools and processes necessary to implement and sustain a continuous improvement system that meets your needs in a value added manner.
Kevin McManus is the President of Great Systems! and provides performance improvement coaching from his office in Rainier, Oregon. He is a TapRooT® instructor, and has served as an Industrial Engineer, Training Manager, Production Manager, Plant Manager, and Director of Quality during his 29 year business career. He has served as an Examiner and Senior Examiner for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for ten years. Kevin also writes the monthly Performance Improvement column for Industrial Engineer magazine and is a regular speaker at a variety of regional and national events.
Kevin has taught many innovative Best Practice sessions at the annual Summit, including 8 Reasons Why People Don’t Report Problems & 8 Solutions to Improve Employee Involvement (View presentation) and Finding Time for Process Excellence – No Fuel, No Progress (View presentation).
Don’t miss an opportunity to set-up and sustain a continuous improvement system at your facility! LEARN MORE about the 2010 Summit!
The value of determining corrective actions and making recommendations is directly correlated to having senior leaders in an organization “buy in” and support implementing change. The fact of the matter that in today’s business environment that even competition within a company for funding is fierce.
Dan Daamen will be presenting Advanced Ideas for Corrective Actions: Using Risk to Rank Corrective Actions at the 2010 TapRooT® Summit, October 27-29 in San Antonio, Texas. This session provides a high level view of business tools and approaches that can assist EHS professionals in providing effective justifications for proceeding with recommendations that provide an overall benefit for employees and the organization.
Daniel Daamen has a diploma in Civil Engineering Technology, a degree in business administration, and holds a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Windsor (Ontario, Canada). Mr. Daamen currently is the Manager of Field EHS, for Union Gas Ltd, a Spectra Energy Company. Within this capacity he focuses on the strategic execution of EHS policies and best practices throughout the various districts within Ontario, Canada. Prior to joining Union Gas in 2007, Mr. Daamen was employed with the Blue Water Bridge Authority, a Canadian federal crown corporation, for 10 years. He was responsible for maintaining critical infrastructure and assets which included the Canadian portions of two international bridges. A major focus in this role was creating and implementing strategy related to infrastructure maintenance systems and developing and implementing EHS polices and procedures.
Learn more about our best practice presenters on our website!
Linda Unger & Michele Lindsay facilitated a TapRooT® User Best Practice Sharing Session at the 2009 TapRooT® Summit. The video below shows one of the best practices that was presented by Stephen Wagner for his group. Watch and learn …
Linda Unger & Michele Lindsay facilitated a TapRooT® User Best Practice Sharing Session at the 2009 TapRooT® Summit. The video below shows one of the best practices that was presented by Jeffery Hubbartt for his group. Watch and learn …
Linda Unger & Michele Lindsay facilitated a TapRooT® User Best Practice Sharing Session at the 2009 TapRooT® Summit. The video below shows one of the best practices that was presented by Dan Evans for his group. Watch and learn …
Theresa Guay, Lead Investigator for Irving Oil in New Brunswick Canada accepted a Success Story award on behalf of Irving Oil at the 2009 TapRooT® Summit in Nashville, Tennessee.
Do you have a success story? Tell us about the rewards, both large and small, of using TapRooT® at your facility.
Stories will be collected and published by System Improvements in our e-newsletter and on our website as a resource to TapRooT® users and others who are interested in improving performance. Your experience and best user practices will highlight TapRooT® user achievement and encourage others to use TapRooT® to investigate and fix the root causes of problems.
Plus, your success story will also serve as your application for a special achievement award that will be presented at the TapRooT® Summit, San Antonio, Texas, October 27-29, 2010.
To contribute your story, please e-mail usand include your name, company name, e-mail, phone number and a brief account of your success using TapRooT®. Barbara will contact you for more detailed information about your TapRooT® success. It’s that simple!
Together, we can make problem solving and improvements a vital part of everyday life!
Dr. Beverly Chiodo has been invited to speak about Character at the 2010 TapRooT® Summit!
The Canon City Daily Record recently published two articles about Summit best practice speaker, Capt. George A. Burk
Ever attend a conference or training event, and walk away feeling like there was one piece of the puzzle that you really needed an answer to but you just didn’t get? We want to assure you that you won’t feel that way about the 
Michele Lindsay will be teaching “Get ‘Outside the Box’ Corrective Actions” at the 
No, Poka-Yoke is not an exciting new dance like the TapRooT® Shuffle we saw at the 2009 Summit (but you can be sure the reception planned for 2010 will also exceed your expectations!).
John Grout is Dean of the Campbell School of Business at Berry College, Rome, Georgia, and the David C. Garrett Jr. Professor of Business Administration.
Dennis Osmer, former Worldwide Head of HSE, will be teaching “Communicating with Management About Risk” at the 2010 TapRooT® Summit (
Quality Improvement can be applied to your personal life and your business. It’s sequential—inside out, not outside in. George Burk was critically burned and severely injured, the sole survivor of 14 passengers in a military plane crash. Learn how several of W. Edward Deming’s 14 Points for Quality Improvement assisted him in his recovery, rehabilitation and transformation from victim to survivor. Hear and learn how you can apply several of Deming’s points—to help you and help you assist others to achieve success in life and business. Burk will be teaching, “Quality in Life and Work” at the 
Kevin McManus will be teaching How to Set-Up and Sustain a Continuous Improvement System
The value of determining corrective actions and making recommendations is directly correlated to having senior leaders in an organization “buy in” and support implementing change. The fact of the matter that in today’s business environment that even competition within a company for funding is fierce.
