Reflections … Run the Play & Finish Strong

“If you want to win, do the ordinary things better than anyone else does them day in and day out.”

-Chuck Noll, Head Coach Pittsburgh Steeler (1969-91)

Good Afternoon APM Team,

It’s the fall, we got our first cool front in Texas this week, and football is in full swing. Please allow me to share a football analogy.

It’s the fourth quarter. You are up by a touchdown. What is your strategy? Do you take the air out of the ball or run your normal offense? Do you back off and play prevent or run your normal defense? I know what this coach does – continue to run what got you the lead and put the game away. We don’t protect leads, we increase leads.

So how does this translate to APM? Why is Jake telling another football story?

Since the summer of 2018, we have been focused on one game – All Home Safe 100%. Our expectation was the behaviors that lead to all going home safe would also lead to good craftsmanship, professionalism, and competitiveness. This expectation we labeled the Safety Keystone strategy – engaging in behaviors (Critical Xs) that drive safety results (Big Y = all home safe) and overall excellence. We are winning in this game. We have improved our performance – we have reduced our safety events by 50% and are near 99% jobs with all going home safe. That is due to your efforts in the field to make sure we understand the game (All Home Safe 100%) and execute our strategy (the Safety Keystone). Thank You!

So we have the lead as we enter halftime – summer of 2019.

Reflecting on the improvements of the past 12 months, this summer we shared the following Safety Keystone reflections and our Safety & Culture Focuses for 2019 H2. Our message at the half was simple – we are winning, continue the strategy, continue the improvement.

So as we leave the locker room at half – after our LDC activities this summer – you hear “Run the play we called.”

Reflecting on the third quarter and our start of the fall outage season, I am asking myself a question:  Do we still have the same intensity in executing the Safety Keystone? It is natural, after a year of significant effort and improvement, to relax and lose a little of our edge. I see some of that in our Critical Xs data (ex: leadership tool use has dropped 5%) and our rigor (ex: safety focused communication has been inconsistent) as we have started the fall outage season. 

So as we enter the fourth quarter, our message is simple: “Run the play we called.”

Re-Commit to the Safety & Culture Focuses we shared with you this summer. I am confident, after a year of improvement, that our Focuses (our playbook) are good. I am equally confident that we have talented players – YOU – that can execute the play. With a talented team and a good playbook, we will win.

“Run the play we called” and finish 2019 strong!

One final reflection:  As we finish 2019 strong, let’s recognize each other’s efforts. Nominate a peer for an award. Send a kind note of encouragement. Say thank you. This is a hard business, and when we have success we should celebrate with each other. I don’t do that enough – I commit to do that better.  

-Jake