Safety Moment - The Myth of Leading Data: Focus on Action, Not Prediction

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So here's the challenge we have, and we all share this challenge.

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And I talk about it all the time, and sometimes it really makes people angry.

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Like they get noticeably angry at me and walk away and storm out of the room

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and do all sorts of angry kind of stuff. But I'm pretty certain there's no such thing as leading data.

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And the reason I can say that is because I think if leading data existed,

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somebody smarter than we are would have discovered it and shared it and we'd all be using it.

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I actually think that is an important precursor to what we're going to talk about today.

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We'll be right back.

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Music.

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Hey, everybody. Todd Conklin, Pre-Accident Investigation Safety Moment.

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It's those tiny little moments where we just share a thought.

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Maybe it'll elicit something greater in your organization or when you're talking

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to people or maybe it's something you can use later. Who knows?

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It's just a thought. And remember, if we like them, we can talk more about them.

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There's no question about that. But let me start with this. Every minute you

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spend trying to predict an outcome, you are not spending that same time trying to affect the outcome.

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That's my big challenge with leading data. The reason we love leading data,

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the reason we're all on a quest for leading data is because it will tell us

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the future. It reduces uncertainty.

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It will tell us what's going to happen next.

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And I'm pretty certain that doesn't exist. I mean, I've not found it.

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If you find it, tell me and I'll gladly be wrong. I'm ready to be wrong.

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But I can tell you that every minute we desperately try to predict the future

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is a minute of time we're not affecting the future.

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And I actually think for us and the work we do, that's a pretty important piece of information.

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Because I think we get really wrapped up with this idea of predictive technologies,

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predictive behaviors, predictive outcomes.

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And I'm not sure they exist, but I do know for sure that the minutes we spend

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doing that are minutes we're not out there actually fixing problems,

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listening to people, talking to people about pain points, identifying places

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where control is low and risk is high.

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That is where you make your money. And that, I think, is the most important

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part of the entire discussion we have.

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Every minute you spend trying to predict an outcome, you are not spending that

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same minute trying to affect the outcome.

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Think about it. Learn something new every single day. Have as much fun as you possibly can.

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Be good to each other. Be kind to each other. And for goodness sakes, you guys, be safe.

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Music.