Keep doing the reps!
Just a little something that we wanted to share with you from the book ‘Atomic Habits’, written by James Clear. We were interested to know about what he had to say about making optimal plans to see change. We were also interested in what he had to say about what he termed, ‘being in motion’ and ‘taking action’. In turns out that the two are very different!
When in motion, you’re planning, strategising and learning, and we’ve all done that in meetings, steering groups and consultations haven’t we, working out how we can improve or make a difference… however, at T&A Safety Services, we think that anyone reading this would agree that this does not achieve an outcome. Why? Because you need to take action to get to the results that you want to achieve. So, whilst James Clears’ book is about habit forming, it occurred to us that this can also apply to how you undertake the analysis in your investigations…. 🕵️♀️💭
Why, we hear you say!? Well, James Clear says that when you want to make a change, you should start with repetition and not perfection. For us, what that means is if you practice what you have learned, and ‘get your reps in’, you’ll achieve the results that you want in the end. He goes on to say ‘the more you repeat an activity the more the structure of your brain becomes more efficient at that activity ‘…. 💡
You may be wondering where this is going… and here it is…. T&A Safety Services are thinking about the analysis methods that we teach in our IOSH approved incident investigation courses. The analysis techniques we teach are new to most of the people who have attended our courses, but what we stress is that they must practise their new skills after the course….. practise, practise, practise…. and get better at the analysis to get to root cause.
Let’s put this into context. Most of us have taken our driving test after lots of theory and practical tests. Then we get handed a set of keys to our first car, and this is where the action kicks in, that James Clear is talking about. We go on to practise our new driving skills and (most of us😉) get better at it. Gear changes become smoother, we stop stalling, we stay in our lane…… and that is what we encourage all our delegates to do once they complete our training course. Go back to the workplace, and if you can’t undertake an investigation, because let’s face it, you have to wait for something bad to happen to do that, why not practice your new analysis skills on understanding things such as why your project wasn’t as successful this time, or why a process keeps failing and you can’t understand why.
The techniques we teach can be applied to so many areas of your work and to practise them in this way ensures that when you do need to use them in your investigation you have honed your analysis skills and YOU WILL NOT FAIL ✅
If you keep doing your reps 🏋️♀️ you’re activating the action that will enhance your learning from our investigation courses, and this is the learning curve that we all want to achieve. Make it easier for yourself…. put in the practise and take action 🕵️♀️📈💡
If you want to know more, we are running our next courses in September and November. You can find more details here https://tasafetyservices.com/our-services/rail-incident-investigation-training or email us at training@tasafetyservices.com
