Harder, faster, higher. Success at all costs. If that’s what’s driving your workplace culture, you might want to think about the fall from grace that can occur when staff throw caution to the wind.
Two glaring examples of the fallacy of success at all costs are the just-released report on the space shuttle Columbia disaster, and the besmirched reputation of the prestigious New York Times, which routinely printed the fabrications of young reporter Jayson Blair.
The Columbia report, commissioned following the death of seven astronauts in a fiery return to earth in February, places blame for the accident on NASA’s organizational culture. Safety took a back seat in the space agency’s push for the stars, yet NASA managers had a blind spot, arrogantly believing themselves to be promulgators of a safety culture. The board investigating Columbia’s fate noted NASA has three conflicting goals: costs, schedule and safety. It’s clear which won out, and NASA’s workplace culture is the culprit.
The board also stated NASA does not demonstrate the characteristics of a “learning culture,” which would have seen it more readily imbed lessons learned in accidents such as the 1986 space shuttle Challenger explosion.
How many more mistakes will American politicians tolerate before shutting down future manned space flight? Management attitudes need to change if the space agency is to continue its quest for the stars. Harder, faster, higher must be tempered with safety.
While the case of the New York Times doesn’t include a tragic loss of lives, the newspapers’ leaders have also learned a hard lesson in what constant high-speed pressure to succeed at all cost reaps.
During his stint at the paper, reporter Blair made up interviews and plagiarized writers from other news agencies in order to crank out top headlines at a feverous rate. Blair and the editors who supervised him own a large portion of the blame. Blair is no longer with the paper, nor are two top editors forced to resign. But also at fault, according to many in the journalism community, is the New York Times’ workplace culture, which insists on being first at all costs. While safety took a back seat a NASA, it was accuracy and integrity that lost out at the Times.
The paper’s new executive editor Bill Keller recognized this upon taking over. While his predecessor Howell Raines spoke of raising writers’ “competitive metabolism,” Keller said he doesn’t see journalism as “an endless combat mission.” Keller suggested staff enjoy life, family and friends, as well as work, suggesting, “that will enrich your work as much as a competitive pulse rate will.”
Corporate leaders are well aware that it takes skill and drive to make it to the top. But an unrelenting pace can make for a stunning fall from grace. Staff must be pushed and encouraged to excel, but they also need pauses from the hectic pace during which they can reflect and rejuvenate.
Two glaring examples of the fallacy of success at all costs are the just-released report on the space shuttle Columbia disaster, and the besmirched reputation of the prestigious New York Times, which routinely printed the fabrications of young reporter Jayson Blair.
The Columbia report, commissioned following the death of seven astronauts in a fiery return to earth in February, places blame for the accident on NASA’s organizational culture. Safety took a back seat in the space agency’s push for the stars, yet NASA managers had a blind spot, arrogantly believing themselves to be promulgators of a safety culture. The board investigating Columbia’s fate noted NASA has three conflicting goals: costs, schedule and safety. It’s clear which won out, and NASA’s workplace culture is the culprit.
The board also stated NASA does not demonstrate the characteristics of a “learning culture,” which would have seen it more readily imbed lessons learned in accidents such as the 1986 space shuttle Challenger explosion.
How many more mistakes will American politicians tolerate before shutting down future manned space flight? Management attitudes need to change if the space agency is to continue its quest for the stars. Harder, faster, higher must be tempered with safety.
While the case of the New York Times doesn’t include a tragic loss of lives, the newspapers’ leaders have also learned a hard lesson in what constant high-speed pressure to succeed at all cost reaps.
During his stint at the paper, reporter Blair made up interviews and plagiarized writers from other news agencies in order to crank out top headlines at a feverous rate. Blair and the editors who supervised him own a large portion of the blame. Blair is no longer with the paper, nor are two top editors forced to resign. But also at fault, according to many in the journalism community, is the New York Times’ workplace culture, which insists on being first at all costs. While safety took a back seat a NASA, it was accuracy and integrity that lost out at the Times.
The paper’s new executive editor Bill Keller recognized this upon taking over. While his predecessor Howell Raines spoke of raising writers’ “competitive metabolism,” Keller said he doesn’t see journalism as “an endless combat mission.” Keller suggested staff enjoy life, family and friends, as well as work, suggesting, “that will enrich your work as much as a competitive pulse rate will.”
Corporate leaders are well aware that it takes skill and drive to make it to the top. But an unrelenting pace can make for a stunning fall from grace. Staff must be pushed and encouraged to excel, but they also need pauses from the hectic pace during which they can reflect and rejuvenate.
