Introduction 

I was at the gym last week when something caught my eye on one of the overhead television screens - an old episode of Undercover Boss. For those unfamiliar with the show, its core premise involves inserting high-level corporate executives undercover (for a few shifts) as entry-level employees within their own companies. The general goal is to learn something about the state of frontline operations, the everyday lives of their workers and the challenges they face. Sometimes these insights are translated that into positive change (locally or at scale).

Unconvincing disguises and porous back stories aside, there is often a wholesomeness to the interactions on display - in the way workers look out for newcomers, the goodnatured ribbing they inflict on the newbie for their hopeless lack of shop floor skills, or the candour with which workers often talk about the challenges in their work and personal lives. Why they would choose to do so with a complete stranger (with a camera crew in tow), is completely beyond me - but it makes for good viewing.

Sprinkled throughout each episode are cutaway scenes of the leader in their native environment (aka head office): high-powered board room meetings, the many trappings of success and montages of dynamic “leadership” work in action. These are no doubt intended to create an emotional connection between the audience and the leader’s challenges. Personally, I find this implicit “leaderism” my least favourite part of the show.

Yes, it can be a tad contrived but whatever it lacks in nuance, it makes up by serving as an excellent reminder of two things: that everyday work is a crucial window into the health and success of organisations while simultaneously highlighting the pitfalls of trying to interrogate it without a sufficient awareness of the assumptions we bring to these situations.

The Golden Krust Carribean Bakery

Just as I glanced up at the screen, the CEO of Golden Krust Carribean Bakery and Grill, Lowell Hawthorne, having donned his minimalist “disguise” of a Rastafarian beanie, was walking into the kitchen of head chef Odean at their Fort Lauredale branch. What followed is workplace safety comedy gold - with a vibin’ reggae soundtrack to boot. Odean, all of 22 years old, knows his craft well and after the usual pleasantries, Odean hands Lowell a serious looking kitchen knife to get on with the job of prepping the red peppers.

Lowell nervously asks Odean if they have some safety gloves he could use, because “I don’t want to lose my fingers.” Odean cracks up at the suggestion. He doesn’t want Lowell to lose any fingers either, but knows of no gloves suited for the job - rather, you need to learn to “protect them for yourself”. Odean genially proceeds to teach Lowell the important skills he needs to handle a knife safely - starting with the 'tuck’ and ‘glide’.

In the next scene, Odean is demonstrating how to make his world famous, marriage-proposal-inducing, banana porridge. Lowell casually asks if Golden Krust has a standardised recipe book to follow (which we all know they obviously do). Odean unfortunately doesn’t display any awareness of it whatsoever. The vision cuts to Lowell debriefing his thoughts on the exchange. Lowell say “One way in which Golden Krust maintains consistency is through the Corporate recipe book - it’s essential within the Golden Krust system.”

I haven’t gone back to how the story turns out for Odean. I do hope he gets to achieve his dream of opening his own restaurant. He certainly has the confidence and drive to do it. Lowell, for his part, comes across as a reflective and open-minded leader so there is a good chance he might look to the bigger picture rather than dwell on that particular faux pax. Yet, this little passage encapsulates many lessons for those of us that seek to study and improve everyday work.

At minimum, these stories illustrate the value to be gained (to those that govern) from direct connection with the everyday lives of people and the insights that are available from genuine efforts at developing empathy. The implications of this on patient safety improvement work are quite apparent, but just turning up with an empathetic mindset is not enough. The capacity to interpret everyday work in meaningful ways is vital too.