This was smart-ISO’s Eureka moment Several years before smart-ISO started an exercise was conducted by John Moffat at British Aerospace to create a habit in personnel and from that habit change a behaviour change that changed attitudes and so changed culture – the habit based management (not behaviour based) theory. Seemed to work but was it a fluke? And was it linked to the fact we covered multiple silos – like safety, environment, security? As smart-ISO started to grow more and more integrated hard facts were required and so the purchase of several books began including the Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. In it he talked about a number of companies BUT the lightbulb went on when reading about Alcoa. Here’s an extract. “I’m not certain you heard me. If you want to understand how Alcoa is doing you need to look at our workplace safety figures. If we bring our industry rates down it won’t be because of cheerleading or the nonsense you sometimes hear from other CEOs. It will be because the individuals at THIS company have agreed to become part of something important. That they’ve devoted themselves to creating a habit of excellence. Safety will be an indicator that we’re making progress in changing our habits across the ENTIRE institution. That’s how we’ll be judged!”