How - Dov Seidman [119]
At the first shop we visit, we meet the shop supervisor, who agrees to lead us around the factory. Grinding gears and large swinging booms whirl around us, and as we look around, the first thing we notice is that some people are wearing hard hats and other protective gear, but many are not. Ducking a low-hanging beam as we walk, we ask if we should perhaps wear something. “Do what you like,” he says. “It’s your life.” As a shower of sparks flies over our heads, we decide that we treasure our vitality more than the information we can gather here at Factory One, and we beat a hasty retreat.
At Factory Two, we immediately notice that almost everyone wears a hard hat, but as the tour begins, no one offers one to us, and there don’t seem to be any extras lying around. When we ask about this, the supervisor says, “Yeah, the boss makes us wear them. I hate them myself, but if he catches anyone without one, they get fired, and I need this job. He also makes us wear name tags and blue pants, because he can’t remember anyone’s name and his favorite color is blue. Go figure.”
Factory Three is clean, bright, and well organized. On the wall as we walk in are a number of hard hats clearly labeled “Visitors,” above which, on the wall, hang numerous posters spelling out safety procedures and regulations. “Everyone Must Wear a Hard Hat!” says one. “If You Do Not Run It, Do Not Touch It!” says another, and so on. We all immediately pick up bright yellow hats and put them on—all except our head salesperson, who turns to the supervisor and says, “Hey, I’ve got a meeting with a big client this afternoon and I don’t want to mess up my hair with a hat. Is that okay?” The supervisor looks around to see who is watching and thinks to herself for a moment. “Does this person really need to wear a hat?” she asks herself. “He looks pretty important, and I bet my boss would want me to make him happy. I wonder which is going to be better for me, enforcing this rule or making my boss happy?” Clearly, we are important guests, she realizes, and she doesn’t want to offend us, but the safety officer has been snooping around of late, and she decides against it this time. “I’d like to say okay,” she says, “but there’s a rule and I don’t want to get busted. If it were up to me, I’d let you slide. Let me ask someone higher up.” She disappears for about 15 minutes and then returns looking uneasy. “I couldn’t find anyone who can okay it,” she says, looking clearly like she doesn’t want to offend us, “so I guess you don’t have to wear it.”
As we walk onto the shop floor at Factory Four, a worker walking by immediately stops what she’s doing and hands us all hard hats and protective goggles. Just then, the supervisor walks up and greets us all warmly. The salesman, still concerned about his coif, makes the same appeal, but without hesitation the supervisor says, “At this company, we really believe in safety and if you are not wearing the proper equipment, I’m afraid I can’t let you go past this point.” The salesman, to our surprise, becomes incensed (he’s a bit of a maverick with an overdeveloped sense of importance) and complains loudly that he is a friend of the plant’s owner and he should be allowed to do as he pleases. “I’m sorry, sir,” the foreman replies, “but I take personal responsibility that nothing happens to you. I don’t want to offend you, and you can call my boss or the owner if you like, but I believe your safety and the safety of everyone are paramount.”
THE FOUR TYPES OF CULTURE
The culture in Factory One views safety from a state of anarchy and lawlessness, a state where everyone acts in their own self-interest with little regard for the group dynamic or organizational