Slow under pressure
Promoting safety when it matters means mastery
A lot of our work is repetitive. And, when we become familiar with the scenarios and skills required on a cyclical basis, we may say that we achieved mastery. Malcolm Gladwell says we need to spend 10 000 hours practicing a skill or specialty to create a form of mastery.
To me, mastery means that we have enough skill, critical thinking, and self-management to be able to make decisions and execute no matter what variance is thrown at us. To be able to remain calm and grounded in a ‘crisis’ is a sign of mastery. In the words of Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio ’s Maid Marian in Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves, “can he make the shot under pressure?”
As a person uncomfortable with heights, my recent Zip-Line experience on Wakehei Island off the coast of Auckland, meant I was watching our guides hook up harnesses on every ‘zip’ very closely. They kept us all calm by storytelling, cracking jokes, and being relaxed themselves. They also had to do a series of safety checks and processes to make sure that 100% was correct 100% of the time. If not, people die.
It amazed me how relaxed it all was. Not because the crew was flippant, but because they did this so often it had become second nature.
My experience at Eco Zip was fun but gave me a fantastic insight into keeping pressure at bay.
But, isn’t this dangerous if you are on autopilot all the time? Isn’t that when things are missed? Isn’t that when mistakes happen?
I asked our guide about this, and her answer said it perfectly… I’ll paraphrase:
Never come into work tired or hungover (ie. If you are a professional, then prepare yourself physically like a professional)
We never overwork ourselves (ie. Fatigue will cause problems. Pushing ourselves and our team too much is where mistakes become a guarantee)
We never rush (ie. No matter how late we are running, when it comes to the important stuff, we take our time and do it right no matter what anyone says)
It was the last point that stood out to me. In our workplaces, everyone is under pressure to deliver. And time is at the centre of our biggest challenge. So, we rush. And by rushing our quality drops. But most importantly, when we have direct reports or customer accounts we are responsible for, we can undermine the psychological safety that people feel. The ability to ‘not rush’ in our daily work, let alone a crisis is a good sign of gaining mastery.
