I am inspired to write about safety, cults and zero harm given the current dialogue about zero accident goals. Those in favor of Zero Harm are calling a group that is critical of that platform a cult. And the group criticizing them is calling the zero accident proponents a cult.
I have never been a fan of zero harm because it is quite deflating when something does happen and the team feels like they failed. It’s even worse when a team member feels guilty that they were injured, perhaps will not even report it. That’s the well intentioned goal zero ham causing psychological injuries. How do I know this? I have done it, not reported.
I propose that using the “cult” label is a shortcut to avoid examining one’s assumptions. The word cult has negative connotations as does brainwashing. However, brainwashing by many other names is used in most therapeutic communities. How do I know this? I lived in Synanon, an intentional therapeutic community for 12 years. We were called a “cult” and we would laugh about brainwashing because a lot of brains needed washing considering the traumas they had been through.
Is washing bad? Witness the parable of Jesus where the prostitute washes his feet and dries them with her hair. It is a symbolic gesture to honor someone, and to the person receiving it, it is the welcome and soothing sensation. The metaphor goes on because Jesus had walked many rocky, dusty miles to preach. His journey was not easy, often accompanied by threats against his person. One could say it was a hero’s journey. The washing eased his return to homeostasis.
It is similar in a therapeutic community. Most people have traveled a traumatic path to arrive and the people there to help have at least witnessed the same traumas if not suffered them.
I left my therapeutic community because it no longer aligned with my values and within a couple of years joined a new cult. It is called Pepperdine University. That is the thing about cults, the ones that are acceptable to society are called principle-based institutions. But after having undergone their two year master’s program in organizational development I can attest that the peer group and leadership pressures in the program were exactly like the ones in the
therapeutic community. If you don’t speak and behave as expected you cannot be a trusted member of the group. Those who disagree and graduate are rare.
So a principal characteristic of a cult is that members in good standing do not question the assumptions or principles of the organization. Also the leaders hold considerable power that can bring down sanctions on members who do not act or speak in alignment with those principles.
So I hope you agree that being a cult is not evil. Shakespeare said long ago “Nothing is good or bad. Thinking makes it so.” The question is what is the purpose of the cult? And do you agree with it?
What does all this have to do with safety or a zero accidents belief system? If the purpose of cults is to prevent thinking we are all in serious trouble. Safety is full of them. To name a few, there’s the cult of compliance. The cult of root causes and human errors. The cult of behavioral measurement. And the greatest cult of all carries the very origin of “cult” in its name, safety culture.
I am sure I am now a member of a cult even though I may not know its name. I am enjoying a certain freedom and asking any question that comes into my mind without weighing its consequences. Of course there are always consequences, it is just a matter of how willing you are to pay them and if you can afford them. Actually, these days being ignored is the consequence that plagues me. I am still working on not letting my ego get involved.
As a young consultant I had to choose between getting paid and asking questions.
As a young consultant I had to choose between getting paid and asking questions. Let me correct that, I had to decide whether or not to press for a deeper answer than the one offered. One client who was also a friend said, “Rosa if you keep bringing up that the company should pay people for the downtime in the factory that was not their fault, you will get fired.” I reflected on that and wondered whether it would even make a difference if I were to bring the question up again. I decided to do so in my “diplomatic” way. And I was not invited back. Yet years later I received a note saying, “Rosa I don’t really understand what you do or how you do it but I need your help again.”
I begin this essay thinking about the conflict between Zero Harm advocates and those who are adamantly against it. One of those folks is a new found friend, Dr. Robert Long. He and I are so different and yet the same. He has taught me many things using language that I might have rejected in my youth. I do not know if I have had the same effect on him, but I greatly value those differences and similarities. It has taken me a long time to get to this point. It isn’t easy being human and letting go of the assumptions we are raised with. So I say this with all humility.
When the urge to put a group into cult status emerges, I recommend taking a breath and considering what could be learned. You may find a new friend and ally.
