Whack-a-Mole: The Price We Pay For Expecting Perfection

by David Marx

We're going to hurt each other ... It's a fact of life, a cost of doing business. On the bright side, we can reduce the odds by embracing the concepts of Just Culture. Abandon our no harm, no foul approach to criminal liability, initiate meaningful tort reform by retiring the medical malpractice system, rewrite regulations and corporate policies that outlaw human error, reconsider society's perceptions of both wrongdoers and unjustly injured victims, and teach parents to think differently about their children's mistakes. Just Culture founder David Marx addresses regulators, attorneys, corporate CEOs, public policy makers, the media, and even parents to show that current social perspectives toward our inherent human fallibility have substantially hindered efforts to make the world a safer place to live. While his observations are primarily about American culture, the lessons are universal. Insightful, bold, and told through often humorous tales, Whack-a-Mole pushes readers to rethink accountability at work, at home, at play.

Genres: Business, Professional Development, Psychology, Management

214 pages, Hardcover

First published August 21, 2009

Reviews

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

[SEGMENT OF TEXT WHACKED]

As David Marx suggests, we should rethink accountability, and our perceptions of--and responses to--"wrong-doing."

For instance, think about that old hero Hercules. The poor bastard had a devil of a time squabbling with the mythical, multi-headed Hydra; every time Herc sliced off a head, ten more grew back.

Hercules seems heroic, taking out the problem, head by head. But the Hydra's heads illustrate not the heroism of Hercules but the fallacies of trying to eradicate "imperfections," unless maybe you've got some half-god in you.

As David Marx suggests, imperfection--or negativity, or mean no-good bullying reviews--can not be stamped out by aggressive attempts to whack every instance of same; we don't make a better community by deleting wherever we think there is a "violation" of the community expectations. We're far better off, as David Marx argues, recalibrating how we engage such negativity, such imperfections, such reviews.

Now, sure--those who remember their Greek mythology will certainly recall that Hercules ultimately took out the Hydra, and web site administrators can certainly try for the Herculean accomplishment of whacking each and every instance that seems to disrupt; website administrators can delete and delete and delete again, and maybe other website users will get pissed at the repetitions, or maybe the original website users posting these reviews will get frustrated and delete their own damn account. But it's a fool's game. There's a reason it's myth, and the myth of perfection and control driving certain website strategies are a colossal waste of energy and of community good will. Not to mention, likely to backfire -- see the ten heads.

David Marx would advise, quit whacking the mole.

This mole blinks and casually flips his middle finger up in joyous appreciation of the brilliance of this book.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've recently been reading a lot about high reliability organizations, safety cultures and specifically, Just Culture. While this book is a good primer on some of the ideas behind it, and a rationale for it, it did little to fix my itch on actually implementing it, or case studies on how it had been successfully implemented. Moreover, it is written in a pedestrian manner, intended for mass public consumption. While not a bad book, it was not what I needed.

[Rebecca I · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book could be a sort of companion to the Thinking Fast & Slow which is about making choices. This is written by a risk management specialist who explains what is wrong with expecting perfection and punishing those who can't live up to the "perfect" standard - which is all of us. It puts this crazy expectation up and shines a little light of reality on it. He particularly tells how we got to be a blaming, litigious country and what would be a better way to operate. He shows how many different careers are affected by having an impossible standard and how mistakes are not corrected and no one wins in a work atmosphere where this is the rule. I have often said this about my own work when new standards come out for expectations of productivity based on the simplest cases happening on a perfect day. In other words, impossible standards. The little worker bees are left to discover what really works, what rules can be ignored, and what the reality of the situation is. Often, when the bottom line is money and not quality of work or serving the client, it leads to high turnover in a particular job, or to slipshod work without a true standard. So much food for thought.

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the concept but the book did not capture my attention. I felt like it was lacking on actual strategies to fix the problem.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had the opportunity to listen to David Marx in a leadership training session. Having seen him in person I can say that there was nothing in this work that he did not say that day. This is not to say there were not take-aways from this work. It is merely a reflection of the fact that this book is somewhat cursory in its evaluation. Marx’ assertion in a nutshell is that we as a society are too punitive. He separates common and standard human error from egregious and willful neglect and harm. Those who purposely stray from the accepted standards, who cause harm due to conscious decisions should be held accountable (e.g. drunk drivers). In other circumstances we stand to learn from inevitable human fallibility. Rather than punish for it, Marx advocates for a system in which we console the error, coach the at-risk behavior and punish the reckless act. By doing so people are more likely to own up to mistakes that are attributed to human error, so that they can be better reported, and systems can be built around them to prevent future error. He points several examples where the systems are too punitive, such as the airline industry, healthcare and the American tort structure. If we do not embrace the no fault system for human errors, which we all commit, we further damage those we are supposed to be helping. If there is any question as to whether or not you do this, go to your HR manual and pull out your policies for time and attendance, accuracy rates, etc. Are they designed to ‘catch’ people? Do we have flexibility to allow ourselves to learn from human error? The biggest question leaders need to be asking themselves is this: when someone makes an error, what is my conversation with them? If an employee leaves the office feeling like they have just had a learning opportunity, they are going to be more likely to self-report next time. If not, if they feel merely punished, they are going to be more likely to hide future errors, which hurts everyone.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

The recent Ebola outbreak here in Dallas bares testament to David Marx's observation of a society steeped in a blame and punish mentality. I heard many a commentary, public and personal, demanding that heads roll. Much of this outcry was directed at local healthcare providers. The media in their mad rush for the "breaking story", headlined several premature absurdities.
I do not know much about "Just Culture" as a school of thought, but from what I picked up, we are a society that could use a strong dose. We live in a world that demands and expects perfection. Just like the carnival game Whack-a-Mole, we strike when someone errs. Marx reminds us that nobody is perfect, not even the cream of society. We should all know this, and he even provides statistics to remind us. As a systems designer for high risk industries he understands that we must always factor human error. In our quest for perfection and zero tolerance for error, we stifle feedback, therefore stifling improvement of a system. Humans will err and we must deal with it realistically. It makes sense as he demonstrates the difference between unintended error, high risk behavior and reckless behavior.
It is all really common sense. With our fast paced high tech world we easily lose perspective. It was easy for me to make application with the notion of Just Culture that Marx prescribes. When there is a crisis such as the recent Ebola scare, I just feel that it is a time for people to cooperate and support our medical establishment. For me, this was a timely and reflective read.

[Gallottino · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whack a mole, schiaccia la talpa è un libro sulla cultura della colpevolizzazione dell'errore indipendentemente dal fatto che si tratti di un atto volontario o meno. La cultura dello "schiacciare" chi commette errori in buona fede ed è clemente con chi invece meriterebbe punizioni severe. Gli esampi spaziano in tutti i campi fino alla sanità dove non è difficile trovare le somiglianze con la cultura imperante della "bad apple theory" e delle condanne sommarie su cui razzolano giornalisti, tabloid e la comune vulgàta.
You must read this book if you share the idea of the just culture. Life is a lottery, risk is everywhere, you can't punish who try to do his/her best for other people or who make error without intention.
Don't whack the mole, first to hammer anyone and blame read this book

[Jeff Bobin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting and thought provoking book that helped me under the just culture in the medical profession.

Using the medical world and air lines as a base it helped me see that we have moved in a way that may actually be costing us lives rather than saving them.

This is a book about mistakes, human error and the difference from those that intend to hurt someone.