Thank goodness for real people

Australia is currently faced with a number of difficult problems that will only be addressed by a collective agreement on what we want to be and what we want to do to get there.

For example, if we truly value manufacturing in Australia and the contribution that sector can make to jobs, diversity of industry and the type of economy we want to have, then governments at all levels needs to work with industry to identify the forces eating away at manufacturing viability.

The same concept applies well to agriculture. With the short-term thinking that is endemic in Australia – partly thanks to the three-year election cycle – it is no wonder China sees Australia as a wonderful place to fulfil their much longer-term thinking around food and resource security – for China. The ripping out of fruit trees in Australia because of unfair competition from cheap imports is a stark example of what happens when a nation does nothing to foster its own industry.

In aviation, the lack of a long-term plan to energise the industry, to identify and remove roadblocks and to seek out and support innovation is indicative of the low political priority afforded our industry.

Apart from the real lack of engagement with industry at a strategic planning level, another commonality across these issues is that government over-regulation is now working against wealth-creating business – nowhere more evident than in aviation.

The complexity of compliance with a range of laws – including those that are different across State boundaries such as chemical control-of-use – is a genuine and very real impediment and cost to business.

I recently tried to assist a volunteer sporting club with compliance issues and discovered more than 20 separate pieces of legislation that applied to the small club. Many were based on risk management, but almost all took a different path and used different jargon. Many were highly prescriptive, requiring detailed knowledge. And all this for a relatively low-risk activity that made a positive not-for-profit contribution to the local community.

*******If this is where we have got to as a country, can someone please explain the question to me again?********

In aviation, it is businesses and the ordinary people that work in them that create and maintain safety as well as wealth. Government agencies cannot be in every cockpit, looking over the shoulder of every pilot, LAME or other crewmember.

Which brings us to the consideration of culture and its importance in setting a trajectory for the nation, business and government.

In aerial application, the industry took its first formal steps towards culturally embedding best practice with the launch of the Spraysafe program in 1985 and its most recent step this year with the accreditation of operators under the AIMS banner (Aerial Improvement Management System).

Innovation has always been valued in aerial application not only because of the economic imperative, but also because of the human imperative. Aerial application accident rates remain at an historic low because of the ongoing work of the sector in training and the culture of innovation – the latest being the introduction of cockpit air bags.

Sometimes government may act as a catalyst, but generally improvement is driven by ordinary people fixing problems within a culture of continuous improvement.

The culture of aviation regulation – and perhaps government generally – seems to be there is less and less trust that the great majority of people are actually trying to do the right thing – something that is confirmed by the aviation statistics showing the immense task carried out by industry with very few major safety incidents. *********Evidence of the commitment of industry to continuous improvement and best practice is everywhere ********* – not because of regulation, but because industry recognises it is in our own best interest.

Few government agencies understand that power in itself is not leadership. Leadership in safety and performance is much more likely to come from ordinary people and ordinary companies pursuing excellence and being encouraged in that, rather than being hit over the head by an alienated agency that is perpetually behind the times.

Of course there is a need for a capable regulator to rid the industry of cowboys and to audit to reasonable minimum standards, but there is also a need for the regulator to be as equally committed to best practice and continuous improvement as is industry. That is a cultural mile-post yet to come.

As Peter Drucker, social ecologist said: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”. However, it is still worthwhile knowing what and where you want to be, something that seems to be missing both in aviation policy and the wider political debate.