Thursday, December 12, 2019

Santa’s Streamlined Mission Service

Santa’s Streamlined Mission Service
By Catalina9

When Santa implemented a Safety Management System, he wanted to name the safety system with a name that anyone in the organization could relate to, and a name that his customers could relate to. Everyone likes safety, but after a few years of research Santa found that the name safety did not specifically define his objectives, so he called the SMS the Streamlined Mission Service. Streamline is the design and a shape that presents very little resistance to a flow of air or water, helps increasing speed and ease of movement. A safety system should come with an easy flow. A mission is an assignment carried out for a purpose with in-motion and kinetic energy. A safety system must have a purpose. Service is helping or doing work for someone, and a safety system is to take actions to protect persons from exposure to hazards above acceptable risk levels. Hazards are not only the exposure to physical hazards, but also financial hazards. Santa’s Streamlined Mission Service is the perfect name that everyone around the world understands. Every year since Santa’s SMS start-up, seven years ago, he developed one principle annually for a successful SMS. Santa would like to share his seven secrets of a successful SMS as a gift to the world of aviation safety. 

Santa does on delivery every single yeat that cannot fail
Over several centuries Santa have delivered gifts to the world during the winter holiday season. Santa delivers in the north were extremely cold, while other places, in the southern hemisphere were extremely hot. This caused performance issues for the reindeers and with Santa himself. Especially for the red-nose reindeer who always took the lead. Rudolf-The-Red-Nose knew all the runs, and how to keep up with on time deliveries. Everyone expected their gift on the same day and at the same time. This stress often caused roof-top incidents and chimney demolitions. Santa’s SMS was the perfect tool to ensure customer service and on time deliveries. That’s why he developed the seven secrets for a successful SMS, and this is the first time he shares his secrets.

An effective meeting room is an empty meeting room
Santa applied the six SMS components, plus a 7th secret ingredients that he had discovered must be included for his SMS to be successful. Santa began to systematically apply his SMS recipe. Mrs. Santa told him that for SMS to work, he must apply the same concept as cooking. If there are too many chefs in the kitchen doing their own thing, it becomes a mess. In addition, if one of the ingredients are left out of the recipe, the meal does taste the way the system predicted.

A secret for a successful SMS is to design operational practical components as objectives and within the objectives establish goals, or elements as building blocks for the objective. The six operational components are:

1)    Safety Management Plan;
2)    Document Management;
3)    Safety Oversight;
4)    Training;
5)    Quality Assurance; and
6)    Emergency Preparedness.

During the infant days of Santa’s SMS he was of the opinion that there could only be one system, one policy and one objective. This caused huge complications after audits with Corrective Action Plans. Santa’s auditor made all findings system findings, which demanded that the system had to be changed. One of the system findings even changed out the reindeers with snowmobiles. During a training session with the snowmobiles Santa found out that they would literally run out of gas before the trip was completed. As his comprehension of SMS developed by his planning, doing, checking, deciding and actions he realized that a Streamlined Mission Service system involved a million systems, policies and objectives.

Complex systems are built with simple systems
Within the objectives Santa developed elements, or goals to be achieved for the plan to function. These goals were in themselves mini-systems working independently, but also in coordination with other goals. Within the Safety Management Plan, Santa developed seven systems. These systems were the Safety Policy, Non-Punitive Reporting Policy, Roles and Responsibilities and Elves Involvement, Communication, Safety Planning, Performance Measurements and Management Review. Within the document management Santa developed the Identification and Maintenance of Applicable Regulations, SMS Documentation, and Records Management systems. Within Safety Oversight he developed Reactive Processes, Proactive Processes, Investigation and Analysis and Risk Management. Training came with Training and Awareness, Quality Assurance with one Quality Assurance system and Emergency Preparedness with Emergency Preparedness and Response System. 

At first Santa was not sure if Emergency Preparedness should be a part of the Streamlined Mission Service (SMS) system, but after careful consideration he decided that it should be included. The main reason to implement the plan was that emergencies had been the prerequisite for developing the SMS plan in the first place. He realized that if he had not experienced one singe emergency over the centuries of delivering gift, there would not have been a reason to implement SMS.  

After audits and inspections, all Santa had to do now when assigning root causes and developing corrective action plans, was to select one of the mini systems, repair that system and put it back into the SMS. Santa had simplified CAPs and Root Cause analysis to a point where it made sense to operations. It was just like fixing a copier that get papers stuck in the middle of the process. One of the systems within the copier does another action than expected and stops all copying. Now the little tv-screen tells you what system malfunctioned and all you need to do is to repair that system, or additional systems as required. When completed you input that system again and the copier starts up again where it had left off.
Santa’s complex delivery schedule works because of thinking outside the box.
The seventh step for a successful SMS is the most important and SMS cannot function without this. It’s the Elves Factors, or often called Human Factors. Human Factors is not to be confused with Elves Error, Elves Failures, or Reindeer Errors. Human Factors, or Elves Factors, is the behavior itself. Think about this for a second what it actually means when a Root Case states that “the pilot failed to do an action”. Did the pilot disappear into a different dimension or evaporate out of the system? No, the pilot did none of this. The pilot completed one action, and often another action that what was expected. Pilots do these things to reach a common Enterprise goal, and it’s called short-cuts. Pilots do these short-cuts to satisfy the goals established by their boss. Whenever there is a business conflicts between safety and return on investment, the ROI wins.

Anyway, the seventh secret to a successful SMS is the power of personal achievement. The most important task for success is to fully complete a task. Without a goal achievement plan, the task may be drifting away from its original goal and produce an unexpected output.    

The steps for personal achievements and SMS goals are;
1)   Step number one, decide exactly what it is you want in each part of your SMS system. Become a “meaningful specific” rather than a “wandering generality.”
2)   Second, write it down, clearly and in detail. Always think on an SMS paper. A goal that is not in writing is not a goal at all. It is merely a wish and it has no energy behind it. Write the reasons for your goal.
3)   Third, set a deadline for your SMS goal. A deadline acts as a “forcing system” in your subconscious mind. It motivates you to do the things necessary to make your goal come true. If it is a big enough goal, set sub-deadlines as well. Don’t leave this to chance. There are no unreasonable goals, just unreasonable deadlines. Set a deadline that is within reach of your goal.
4)   Fourth, make a list of everything that you can think of that you are going to have to do to achieve your SMS goal. When you think of new tasks and activities, write them on your list until your list is complete. This list must be picked up daily and write down new items and erase non-essential items.
5)   Fifth, organize your SMS list into a plan. Decide what you will have to do first and what you will have to do second. Decide what is more important and what is less important. And then write out your plan on paper, the same way you would develop a blueprint to build your dream house. Build on the Plan, Do, Check, Decide and Act concept.
6)   The sixth step is for you to take action on your SMS plan. Do something. Do anything. But get busy. Get going. Goals often fails because an action was not initiated. The secret is to pick one item to do and more and other action tasks will become clear to you. The first task is not to necessary pick the right task for the output, but for your mind to begin working on your goal.
7)   Do something every single day that moves you in the direction of your most important goal at the moment. Develop the discipline of doing something 365 days each year that is moving you forward. You will be absolutely astonished at how much you accomplish when you utilize this SMS formula in your life every single day. Move off the “some-day” island.

A goal must be so simple and specific that a fifth grader can be explained to another fifth grader who then implements the goal. This does in no way, shape or form belittle anyone, but is for the subconscious mind to accept the goal, which is literally competing with a million other goals. Human, and the human mind is built to take the path of least resistance. When you program your goal into your subconscious mind it will accept a simpler goal before accepting a complex goal.

Write your goal down. You may write it electronically, or click a checkbox for documentations, but for the purpose of achieving your goal, write it down on a piece of paper with a pen, or pencil. This reinforces the goal in your own mind.

Set a deadline for your goal. If there is a regulatory inspection scheduled, the deadline will most likely to achieve your goal prior to the inspection. If the goal seems complex for timeline available, delegate some of the building blocks of the goal. Apply the A-B-C-D-E- formula for prioritizing your goal and the building blocks of the goal.
“A” stands for “very important;” something you must do. There can be serious negative consequences if you don’t do it.
“B” stands for “important;” something you should do. This is not as important as your ‘A’ tasks. There are only minor negative consequences if it is not completed.
“C” stands for things that are “nice to do;” but which are not as important as ‘A’ or ‘B,’ tasks. There are no negative consequences for not completing it.
“D” stands for “delegate.” You can assign this task to someone else who can do the job instead of you.
“E” stands for “eliminate, whenever possible.” You should eliminate every single activity you possibly can, to free up your time.

Make a list of what you need to do. One simple reason to make a list is that you then don’t need to remember a million things to do. All you need to remember is to pick up the list, read the items and pick one priority item to action. You may enter a list electronically for documentation, but you should write your list on a paper with a pen or pencil.

From you list make a project plan, or project solution. SMS is Project Solutions Leadership Motivation. A project plan is specific and detailed. Imagine if a blueprint for an office building would just draw the building to scale and then ask a contractor to built it. A project solution plan is to describe the solutions. If there are 15 electrical outlets in one room, they are not only specifically placed, but they are also specifically designed for use. An SMS plan is no difference. Be specific and describe solutions, not wishes.

Now, put your plan into action. Your project solution will include an initial priority action. Begin with that action now. When one action step is completed, move to the next one immediately. Initiate the step today for your subconscious mind to work on the plan for tomorrow. Write down on paper your first few action steps tomorrow.

Do something every day that moves you towards your goal. Drift is a common distraction to reach a goal. Drift happens when a person makes a minor change in direction of the goal to reach the goal faster. All a person wants to do is to help the boss to reach the goal faster. A person who drifts has no intentions to sabotage the goal, but just the opposite; to reach the goal more efficient. When drift occurs, the goal eventually becomes blur and unexplainable to why certain actions are required.


Merry Christmas My Friends
The Streamlined Mission Service system has worked well for Santa, and unless your Enterprise has a larger customer base than the 7.53 billion Santa is delivering to in one single day, your Enterprise will also have a successful SMS by implementing the 7 simple principles.

Catalina9

Supervision Factors

  Supervision Factors By OffRoadPilots W hen identifying contributing factors and root causes, an SMS enterprise considers human factors, su...