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Management Side
Week of 22 June 2015: I don't believe it
Sponsored by Genesis Energy, LP--your exclusive source for NAHS--1-800-422-6274

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A couple of weeks ago, someone not familiar with the industry read my novelette, "The Osage Mill." After they finished it, they half-stated, half-inquired, "Some of those things that happen in the book are fiction, aren't they?"

The answer, sadly, is, "No."

Granted they did not all happen in the same mill, but they all happened.

There are two points to be made here this week. The first is this: sometimes things happen in front of us that are so outrageous or so dangerous that our minds shut down. We don't believe them even though they are happening right in front of us. This can especially be the case in crowds where the dynamics of the crowd take on a life of their own.

I have experienced this at least a couple of times in my life. The first one was at the Indianapolis 500 in 1970 when a college friend and I had $5 infield passes. We waited outside all night. At 6 am, a cannon went off somewhere on the grounds, they unlocked the gates and stood back. It wasn't so much that we walked through the gates--we were "extruded" through the gates. We laughed but from this perspective, that was a very dangerous situation. People could have been trampled. Another time was about 16 or 17 years ago in the crowd at Times Square in New York at New Year's Eve. More precisely, we weren't even close--about four blocks away to the west--but the crowd once again took on its own dynamic and individuals were not in control of which way they went or whether they even stayed vertical. I was experienced enough this time to extricate Laura and myself as soon as I could.

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This phenomenon also happens with data in the pulp and paper making processes. Sometimes the data is something unexpected and we tend to discount it. The reality is that the data is correct but, using our experience, we think it is not. It is sort of like a pilot who stops believing the instruments in IFR conditions--do that and you are going to go down, figuratively if not literally.

And, of course this happens with politicians, but that is outside our scope here, thank goodness.

The other point I want to make concerns what goes on in your mill. The short answer is everything goes on in your mill, from the honest and upright to the scandalous and felonious. It all happens, and if you don't think it does, I have a shiny bridge over the East River in New York I would like to sell you.

We have spoken of integrity in these pages recently. A majority of your fellow employees likely act with integrity 99.9% of the time. However, there is an element, and you have them just like everyone else, who spend most of their time trying to exploit your facility for personal gain. Most of these individuals are clever enough not to get caught, but they nevertheless are dwelling most of the time in the dishonest, if not illegal, areas of life.

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I would like to suggest two actions to be taken on your part, based on this revolting concept I have just shared with you. The first is to keep your eyes open. You don't have to be paranoid or become a snitch, but just keep your eyes open and recognize things that are dishonest that are going on around you. If you maintain high standards yourself, you'll notice what I am talking about.

The next thing I would like for you to do is find a way (again, without turning in specific people by name) to share your stories with me. We are going to kick off our editorial calendar in August, a short five or six weeks away, by designating August as "corruption month" in our publications. It is still a somewhat fuzzy concept, but we want to highlight corruption within our mills and propose that people strive to work to higher standards. No, we don't want names, dates, and places. That might involve illegalities, lawsuits and who knows what in which we have no interest in engaging ourselves. Yet, if you wish to send me an anecdote, which I assure we will use completely anonymously, we would like to hear from you. In fact, you can send your comments solely to me--jthompson@taii.com. No one else will see them.

I'll even give you a way to couch these so that there will be no problems. Start out this way, "Jim, if you saw this happen, would you consider it corruption?" And then state your case avoiding names and locations.

Granted, we are playing with fire here, but there is enough corruption going on and has gone on for long enough that something needs to be done about it. It is a drain on our industry.

Any comments on this week's column? We have a completely open ended survey for you here.

As for safety, safety often involves, sadly, looking at an unbelievable situation and taking action. This is where safety training must kick in.

Be safe and we will talk next week.

You can own your Nip Impressions Library by ordering "Raising EBITDA ... the lessons of Nip Impressions."


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