The BP Oil Spill – POOGI for ABA

The BP Oil spill happened in 2010. The environmental, health, and economic consequences were severe. What you might not know is that in 2007 the company publicly made a big commitment to focus on safety. In fact, the company declared that safety was the company’s number 1 priority.

Did the company make any changes to focus on safety? They sure did. They put up signs in the company offices! The signs said things like:

Don’t walk and carry hot coffee.
Use marked walkways in the parking lot.
Hold banisters while climbing the stairs.

The investigations after the spill found that very little had actually been done to improve safety on oil rigs. In fact, they were still extremely dangerous with poor safety practices.

I think the lesson here is that it is often easy to set the right goal (safety is our #1 priority) and still fail miserably. Setting the goal is deciding on what results you want to achieve. But after you pick the results that you want to achieve, you also have to select the right behavior changes that will have a significant impact.

I think this problem happens in behavior analysis all the time. We want the children we work with to “learn to communicate,” “live an independent life,” “make friends,” or lots of other great-sounding results. The next problem is to decide what behavior changes will lead us to those results. In any practical case, there are almost always an enormous number of possible choices. Narrowing down those choices is an incredibly underrated skill.

Behavior analytic services should only be delivered in the context of a professional relationship. Nothing written in this blog should be considered advice for any specific individual. The purpose of the blog is to share my experience, not to provide treatment. Please get advice from a professional before making changes to behavior analytic services being delivered. Nothing in this blog including comments or correspondence should be considered an agreement for Dr. Barry D. Morgenstern to provide services or establish a professional relationship outside of a formal agreement to do so. I attempt to write this blog in “plain English” and avoid technical jargon whenever possible. But all statements are meant to be consistent with behavior analytic literature, practice, and the professional code of ethics. If, for whatever reason, you think I’ve failed in the endeavor, let me know and I’ll consider your comments and make revisions, if appropriate. Feedback is always appreciated as I’m always trying to Poogi.