Kim Gaskill warns that people change behavior when inspectors arrive, citing examples from nursing, military, and fire service. Falsifying or hiding operational data prevents organizations from fixing real problems. Honest reporting is the only way to improve.
It's a new day full of new possibilities. I'm Kim Gaskill, and this is the Daily Spark. Data. We all are consumed with data, the numbers, the facts, the figures. But what does any of that mean if we're not being true to and realistic about the input of data that we're using. Yesterday, one of the nurses came in early and gave me a heads up, said, "A bunch of people from corporate are here today, so if you see a lot of new faces or people come in and ask you questions or you see some weird things going on, don't be, you know, surprised." because people are here from corporate. Now, it was interesting because I've been in many situations, especially in the military, when they would come and do inspections on the base and everybody would ramp up for it and do all these things. And throughout every career that I've had in the fire department, everything, it's always the same. There are issues and problems that are going on within the company, within the organization, that all of the employees know about, all of the employees complain about, all of the employees want changed. But when it comes time to give real data to the people who can make a difference, who can take charge and make changes, they don't allow true information to be given. And now what I mean by that is they act differently when that inspection's happening. They act differently when those people from corporate are here. All of the things that are falling between the cracks, all of the things that are happening when you go and do things daily that don't work, that you want changed are never going to be changed if you don't be true about the information that you're giving to those people that have the ability to change it. You have to let them know where the downfall is. You have to let them know where the failings are if you want them to fix it. Don't cover them up. Don't act differently. All day long yesterday, they were acting differently because of the people that were here. Instead of them being able to honestly say, we don't have enough people, that's why beds aren't getting changed, or we don't have proper protocols, that's why medications are getting messed up— they can't say that because people will lose their job, or people will stop paying to come here, or whatever the consequence will be. They don't want that to happen, so they don't give the right information. But by withholding that and faking it all day long and doing things that they don't normally do for whatever reason, whether they're, they're unable to or they don't want to or they know they don't work, they fake it and do things that look good, that check off a box, but they never have the impact that they need to. Because the information is false. I hope you're not doing that in your business. I hope you are strong enough to tell the truth, to right the wrongs, to give the information that you need to, no matter how much it hurts, so that things can get changed for the better, because that's the only way that that will happen. Catch you again tomorrow for another Daily Spark.
