The Capacity Model will give you the ability to save a life. Do you believe that?

Nate Singer, a Superintendent in the Georgia Region, recently shared a personal story to remind us of the importance of safety and preparedness in our work. A husband and father of four, Nate emphasizes the personal nature of our Capacity Model. He believes that without the ability to handle failure, we risk serious consequences.

A couple of weeks ago, there was a fatal wreck at the end of my driveway which is in a blind curve, usual traffic speed is 65mph. I jumped in my truck and got to the road. I got out and saw something that I hope no one ever has to see. The 18-year-old young man that recently graduated high school this past May (I found out later), had crossed the center line and hit a motor home head on, causing the motor home to basically go through the car. 911 was called and I called to my wife and told her not to come down or let our boys come down. That sight will haunt me for the rest of my life, experiences affect us all and help make us who we are…

 

For about 3 hours I watched from house as the responders showed up, moved around, painted lines as they investigated the scene, later watching as the mother of the young man got to the scene, I could feel the hurt inside my walls. The collision was so terrible that responders could not remove him from the car, they put a tarp over the car covering the young man, picked it up with a wrecker, driving away with him still inside the car. After 3 hours, the traffic cleared, and it was as if nothing had ever happened out there. I sat there on my porch afterwards staring at the road in thought and watching as everyone else’s life just continued on out there, driving over markings that had no meaning to them.

 

One of the seven principles of human performance is “Context Influences Behavior”. This means that we as humans do what they do for a reason given the situation. As I sat in thought, I wondered what exactly that reason was for the young man that caused him to cross the center line… He could have been a cell phone, he could have been speeding, he could have been eating, he could have been late to a job, it could have been several things we take for granted doing while operating a vehicle because we are lucky.

 

Another of the seven principles of human performance is “Incidents Stem from Normal Deviations” …. He could have not been doing absolutely anything other than driving, maybe on a wrong road, and or just complacent in his own thoughts of his life… no matter what it was, it did not deserve to take his life. This young man doesn’t get the opportunity to learn from whatever the failure was…

 

Every day we get away things, we get that opportunity, to be better than we were yesterday. We don’t get better by doing things the same way, and expecting different results. We will have to fail at times to have the ability to be better, but it only works if we are still here, to have the opportunity to get better, because we failed safely. That’s what the Capacity Model represents, building the capacity to have the ability to absorb harm when we do fail, and fail safely. It is up to everyone to make a difference as you lead your crew into work each day. Every day you build capacity in your job and send your crew home for the day, you save their life. Set the tone, be the leader of your team, and encourage your team to use the capacity model on every job, no matter how big or small. Nothing out there deserves the opportunity to hurt anyone or take a life. Everyone goes home – every day. The capacity model is not small talk, it is the talk.

Thank you, Nate, for making The Capacity Model personal, and thus prioritizing safety in all you do.