A good coffee to learn and take action
The publication offered by Alejandro Steinhaus and MarceloPino-George is not only an accurate analysis of the common challenges thatorganizations face in terms of safety and productivity, but also offers us anavigation route to address the need for permanent improvement.
Facing these matters, after the boom in management systemsin the past decades and dissatisfaction with their results, is a necessity toput things in their place, recognizing the contribution of systematizationaround globally homologous good practices, but also revaluing their own workand learning about the specific and particular conditions of each organization.
Through guiding principles and the warning not to fall intothe traps or debts that we impose when we cease to be consistent with ourvalues, the book manages to guide us in an entertaining and didactic way to thechallenge of constantly improving.
Hardly these lessons are learned in universities, at leastat the undergraduate level. In my generation, and I know that also in thesubsequent ones, the academic focus has always been on the technicalcompetences and still quite far from the reality of the tasks or processes ofthe industries, where above all people converge, with their strengths andweaknesses .
In general, we have come to consider the great theme of “theway of doing things”, and not only what to do, thanks to the path that certainleaders of our industries have shown us, for personal interest or talents orfor an experience marker, either good or bad. Undoubtedly, this book saves partof the way, allows you to move forward in it, and drives everyone responsiblefor a process to assume leadership over the challenges it faces.
The problems identified and the cases presented in this bookreminded me of various experiences throughout my career, connections made withthe teams managing to boost the organization and its results, bottlenecks thatwe could overcome by understanding each other better, successful learning andothers frustrated, opportunities seized and others we miss.
When I had to take on a complex moment for my new company,in a scenario of restrictions throughout the industry for the downward cycle inthe price of copper, we decided to invest in the quality of life of thepersonnel in the work. The results achieved later have undoubtedly had manyothers and perhaps more important reasons, but that's where we started to fixthings. Because with that decision we were showing consistency with the visionof the organization that we needed to share and put into rapid execution, whichis what has guided us and extensively redirected in my current company duringthe last years.
Another situation that arises strongly in the book I havealso had to live and face in my professional career. The tendency to makediagnosis an end in itself, perfecting it infinitely, adding more and moreopinions, each brighter, questioning every last detail, as if it was notnecessary to act. At some point I have come to limit the eternal internal andexternal consultancies and consultancies, because beyond their specificpurpose, they end up delaying the activation of what needs to be done, what ourprocesses need.
“Acting in a timely manner makes a difference. Sometimes,with small solutions we solve the problems while they are small ”, is one ofthe sentences, sharp and assertive, with which this book seeks to remove us,and achieves it from its proximity to the reality of organizations.
The authors have managed to synthesize and systematize inthis book a cluster of experiences, with which any professional can identify,allowing them to find a specific meaning in their process, helping their ownlearning cycle and those around them. It is also remarkable the interactionthey achieve with the reader, asking us through questions that make us thinkabout our own reality, discovering new opportunities based on who we are andwhat we have managed to build as work teams.
The book constantly calls us to learn, but also to unlearn,willing, with “courage” as the authors say, to recognize what does not work,what does not contribute, what lost its validity and that is diverting us fromthe focus of our efforts .
Throughout its pages, the great connection established withthe reality of professionals in charge of complex and large-scale operations,such as those of mining but also those of many other business activities, isconstantly surprising. Particular attention also generated the way in whichthey propose what they call a “post-certification” stage, reflecting a realphenomenon that has been stressing organizations.
In this sense, they denote the risks of copying experiencesthat have different factors than their own and, on the contrary, they highlightthe opportunity to learn from each organization, taking advantage of theadvanced, discarding what does not work, ensuring participation, testing newpractices , looking for strategic partners in the business environment.
The enthusiasm that these pages go through is justified infaith in people, in their ability to overcome, in the confidence of being ableto help each one identify the meaning of what they are doing and walk behindit. Experience confirms to me those good omens, because when we manage toembody a vision in the organization, the leadership is not made by a singleperson or a small group but all the members of it. For the rest, it is the onlyway in which remarkable results are achieved and the desire to improve remainsalive.
When we consider values that, instead of scattered tasksand results, we can face the great challenges, not only obtaining internalparticipation, but also involving all those around us - families, communities,society in general -, projecting the meaning of what we do
The focus on the processes posed by the authors is familiarand desirable, because that is where the risk cycle is played, where the valuesof safety, productivity, efficiency, sustainability or any other higherobjective materialize, and where it is verified that the actions that supportthem are reality.
Similarly, the analogy of the train makes full sense to me,because the objective of every leader is to bring his ship to fruition, achievewith his team the expected results. The route to follow is not only the onethat is in the plan of the day, but above all the one that we must anticipateto face an increasingly demanding tomorrow.
Referring to the coffee that the authors propose to share atthe end of the book, I can say that reading and studying this document leavesus with a good flavor, with a deep aroma, that wakes us up to act, that bringsus together to share and learn together.
Jorge Gómez Díaz *
Civil Engineer in Mines
Atacama University
* Note: the author of the prologue has held high executivepositions in various mining companies, currently being Executive President ofthe Mining Company Doña Inés de Collahuasi.
