The normalisation of deviance is
defined as: “the gradual process
through which unacceptable practice
or standards become acceptable. As
the deviant behaviour is repeated
without catastrophic results, it
becomes the social norm for the
organisation.” This process is difficult
to detect because it happens slowly,
over a series of small, seemingly
inconsequential decisions to cut
corners. And more often than not,
these shortcuts feel necessary at the
time because teams are under
enormous pressure. One of the most
famous examples of the disastrous
results that this phenomenon can lead
to was the failure of the O-ring
gaskets on the Space Shuttle
Challenger. Under incredible time and
cost pressure, NASA proceeded with
the launch when they had
overwhelming evidence that O-ring
failure could be catastrophic.
Seeing the positives
But there is an upside to this
phenomenon. When organisations
make small, positive incremental
changes over time, they can create a
new, higher standard of operational
excellence. Author, Darren Hardy,
calls this the Compound Effect. The
key point is that every day, people in
an organisation make hundreds to
thousands of minor decisions that
collectively have major
consequences. When the systems and
processes are put in place to help
improve this collective
decision‑making, the entire
organisation will reap the benefits.
Dingo has spent 25 yr helping
mines take advantage of this
Compound Effect simply by tapping
into the power of underused data.
And while Big Data is getting a lot of
press lately, using this massive
amount of data will not necessarily
lead to the desired outcome. In fact,
Dingo often finds that companies are
drowning in it. Sound
decision‑making is not typically
driven by how much data a mine
has, it is driven by how well a mine
uses the data that it does have.
Typical asset health profile of mining fleet. According to Dingo’s global asset health
database, a significant number of mines are operating with close to half of their fleets
in abnormal condition.
TRAKKA condition management software. A centralised software system with the right capabilities will provide personnel with the
tools to succeed and facilitate a process that drives the desired results.
54
|
World Coal
|
January 2016
