Gordon Graham
Category: Public Safety

Gordon Graham here with Today’s Tip from Lexipol. Today’s Tip is for all my friends in public safety, and it’s about the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch.  

Failing to listen when the experts tell you there are problems may cost lives and valuable resources.  

Before you run off screaming, “Graham’s finally lost it!”, allow me to explain the title. The film Monty Python and the Holy Grail is hilariously entertaining, but it also contains several leadership lessons.  

At one point in the film, King Arthur comes upon a man named Tim. Tim tells Arthur to beware of a terrible monster that lives in the nearby cave. As Arthur and his knights approach the cave, they see the entrance is covered in human bones. They also see a rabbit nearby.  

Despite Tim’s warnings, Arthur orders his knights to kill the rabbit. A terrible battle ensues. The group is forced to use their one “Holy Hand Grenade” to kill the rabbit – but not before three of the knights are killed and many more injured. 

So what’s the lesson for public safety personnel? Failing to listen when the experts tell you there are problems may cost lives and valuable resources.  

We see this happen in real life all the time. Take the Challenger tragedy. Months before the ill-fated launch, engineers told NASA that the O-rings used for sealing the joints of the solid fuel booster engines were affected by temperature. The night before the launch, the engineers recommended postponing the flight because of the low temperature. But they were overruled by management. And you know how it ended.  

Gen. George Patton declared, “If everyone is thinking alike, then someone isn’t thinking.” Good leaders understand a battle plan isn’t a substitute for critical thinking. And great leaders remain humble and open-minded to input from others. Even if they’re outside the group or saying things we don’t want to hear.   

And that’s Today’s Tip from Lexipol. Until next time, Gordon Graham signing off.