Dugaldism
A mining-specific term describing a situation so profoundly fucked that it has officially maxed out its potential for further
fuckery. Characterized by placing a “post
turtle”—someone elevated to a position far above their ability, competence, or comprehension—in charge of critical functions, particularly High Reliability Operations (HRO). The purest expression of Dugaldism occurs when leadership decides the
best way to
fix systemic
chaos is by giving a clueless manager absolute authority over the very thing they understand least, typically safety or reliability. It’s the corporate equivalent of putting a toddler in charge of air traffic control, then expressing surprise when everything inevitably crashes.
We’ve fully embraced Dugaldism by putting the post
turtle in charge of HRO. Can’t wait to see how they solve safety by ordering more pizza parties and branded pens.
The sheer fuckery of this place, so many aids,
pure Dugaldism
Here are some additional examples of Dugaldism in action:
We reached peak Dugaldism today—management decided the
best response to equipment failures was to repaint the workshop floors and give everyone matching hats
Classic Dugaldism moment: the post
turtle just mandated ‘
zero incidents’ by banning reporting incidents altogether
You know it’s Dugaldism when they replace faulty safety
gear with motivational posters saying ‘Safety First!’ printed on
paper that catches
fireIt’s Dugaldism at its finest when the only qualification for running an HRO program is confidently misusing the words ‘synergy’ and ‘culture change’ in every meeting
Achieved maximum Dugaldism yesterday when the post
turtle announced that all hazards have officially been removed—because he deleted them from the spreadsheet
We’ve hit full Dugaldism. Management’s response to the latest safety breach? Promoting the
guy who caused it, since he now has ‘valuable first-
hand experience
The team knew Dugaldism was in full swing when the HRO manager thought ‘critical control’ meant deciding who brings donuts on Fridays.
Nothing screams Dugaldism like responding to a safety audit failure by scheduling more meetings to discuss scheduling fewer meetings.