How to find Safety Culture Improvement Projects - the DELTA System
We created the DELTA System specifically for safety leaders who want to improve their organizational culture. More specifically, their organizational safety culture.
It answers the question that frequently arises once safety data reveals a potential issue:
Now what?
The DELTA System is a five-step data-interrogation methodology, consisting of the following:
Data
Explore
Locate
Transform, and
Assess
The DELTA System has two goals: finding solutions and shaping your culture. More on these later.
Solution-finding and Culture-shaping are both accomplished using a two-day workshop that includes participation from all levels of the organization.
For Sociometri users, the DELTA system is an optional supplement to the Improve step of the DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) continuous improvement methodology. 1
The DELTA System supplements the Improve step of the DMAIC continuous improvement methodology.
The DELTA System is a clear, straightforward methodology for generating realistic and effective actions (projects and solutions) to address your safety data and improve your organizational safety. These actions will have a ripple effect that improves all aspects of your organization’s culture.
The Theoretical Grounding of DELTA
The DELTA System is our method of identifying effective and realistic improvement projects within an organization. It consists of five phases: Data, Explore, Locate, Transform, and Assess.
We begin on the left with Data and proceed to the right, concluding with Assess. Each step serves a unique purpose, from helping organizations identify the root causes of culture issues to prioritizing the projects that address them.
The DELTA System: Data, Explore, Locate, Transform, Assess.
1. Data
In this step, we select a piece of data that represents an area we would like to improve. This data could come from surveys, performance metrics, or any other source that provides measurable insights into the organization’s current state. Whatever the metric, it becomes the foundation and focus of our first workshop session, Explore.
2. Explore
In the exploration stage, the data is dissected, and ideas are developed about potential root causes of the identified issues. This step involves engaging employees at all levels to gain a well-rounded understanding of the context, challenges, opportunities, and nuance around the area of improvement. It is critical to explore different perspectives to ensure a holistic understanding.
3. Locate
This step is to look for patterns, gaps, trends, and relationships within the collected ideas. Locate is a convergent step, meaning it works to narrow our scope and synthesize Explore’s ideas into emergent themes. Through thematic analysis, individual insights converge into larger, more comprehensive ideas that reflect the organization’s underlying issues.
4. Transform
In this stage, the organization begins to transform common themes into solutions and projects to address the themes identified. These solutions are developed collaboratively, ensuring they are practical, sustainable, and aligned with the organization’s culture.
5. Assess
The last step of the DELTA System, Assess identifies which interventions will be the most effective and practical for our organization. The scope will be converging once again, as we filter our wide pool of possible interventions into the few that will become our projects.
Origin of the DELTA System
The DELTA System is an adaptation of methodologies from the fields of sociology, design, organizational design, and management science, integrated to create a robust framework for improving human factors within organizations.
Systemic Design, which merges systems thinking with human-centered design, was a key inspiration for the DELTA System. Unlike traditional problem-solving methods, systemic design focuses on understanding the complexity of interconnected organizational challenges while addressing them through creative, user-focused solutions.
The DELTA System draws from this by incorporating both a macro and micro view of problems – using data to identify broad themes and root causes while engaging participants in creative brainstorming to develop solutions. 2
Thematic Analysis is a systematic approach to analyzing qualitative data, commonly used in sociology. This method involves identifying, analyzing, and reporting patterns or themes within qualitative data, enabling researchers to uncover underlying meanings, themes, and perspectives from individuals or groups within a social context, providing deep insights into organizational dynamics.3
The Double Diamond Framework, originating from the Design Council in the UK, is a widely adopted methodology in the design field that provides a structured and iterative approach to solving complex problems and crafting innovative solutions.
This framework emphasizes both divergent and convergent thinking, allowing for exploration before refinement. 4
The Decision Matrix originated in operations research and management science as a tool for systematic decision-making. It offers a structured method for evaluating and comparing different options based on multiple criteria. T
his tool aids in rational and transparent decision-making, particularly in complex situations with competing options. 5
We have combined and adapted these methodologies with insights from our Sociometri platform and years of historical Human Factors Survey data to create the DELTA System.
Divergence and Convergence
Divergent and convergent brainstorming are crucial to solution finding within the DELTA System because they harness the full spectrum of participants’ creativity and critical thinking.
Divergence occurs in the steps where we explore a wide range of possibilities, ideas, and solutions without constraint: Explore and Transform. It encourages creative thinking, brainstorming, and experimentation to generate a diverse array of concepts.
Divergent steps in the DELTA System include Explore and Transform.
Convergence happens when we synthesize, categorize, and narrow down our thinking to home in on the strongest and best ideas. This takes place in the Locate and Assess steps of the DELTA System.
Convergence steps in the DELTA System include Locate and Assess.
You may notice a pattern of divergence and convergence throughout the DELTA System.
This back-and-forth between expanding our thoughts to generate many ideas (divergence) and then focusing on the most suitable options (convergence) is a well-supported framework for good decision-making.
It is most frequently used by product designers, who need to make things that both solve consumer problems and are realistic to produce, but even regular people instinctually use divergence and convergence.6
For example, take weekly grocery shopping. First, you think about all the possible meals you could prepare. Your mind explores different recipes, cravings, and inspirations, and you generate ideas without worrying about their practicality.
This results in a wide variety of meal options. Afterward, you pare down your list by considering factors like budget, family member preferences, available ingredients, and how much time is available to cook that week. Eventually, you identify the most suitable meals and make your grocery list of ingredients.
By alternating between these divergent and convergent phases, the DELTA System employs both creativity and critical thinking to develop innovative and effective interventions.
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At this point, with a solid understanding of the theoretical grounding of the DELTA System, many begin to wonder – why a workshop?
There are many reasons, including the synergistic fusion of quantitative and qualitative data, the prevention of organizational disorientation, the benefits of gathering local knowledge and transforming it into global knowledge, and the importance of buy-in for the success of any organizational change or improvement project.
We will cover these topics and introduce the concepts of culture-shaping and solution-finding in an upcoming post.
Stay tuned!
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References
1. Thomas Pyzdek and Paul Keller, The Six Sigma Handbook: A Complete Guide for Green Belts, Black Belts, and Managers at All Levels, 4th ed. (McGraw-Hill Education, 2014).
2. Idris Mootee, Design Thinking for Strategic Innovation: What They Can’t Teach You at Business or Design School (John Wiley & Sons, 2013).
3. Virginia Braun and Victoria Clarke, “Using Thematic Analysis in Psychology,” Qualitative Research in Psychology 3, no. 2 (2006): 77–101, https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa .
4. Design Council, Eleven Lessons: Managing Design in Eleven Global Brands (Design Council, 2007).
5. Paul Goodwin and George Wright, Decision Analysis for Management Judgment, 5th ed. (John Wiley & Sons, 2014).
6. Roger L. Martin, The Design of Business: Why Design Thinking Is the Next Competitive Advantage (Harvard Business Press, 2009).