If you missed Paradigm #1, where I share the assumption that nearly cost me my life, you can read it here before diving in.
The Shift That Happens Without You Noticing
There's a moment that happens in every career.
A slow shift you don't see coming.
You're out there, working, focused, locked in. You're doing the job and doing it well.
And then, one day… it starts to feel easy.
And that feeling? It feels like progress. It feels like confidence.
But sometimes it's not.
Sometimes, that feeling is the first step into complacency.
And complacency? That's the real killer.
What Is Complacency, Really?
Complacency is when you stop questioning.
It's the mental autopilot that kicks in after you've done something so many times it becomes muscle memory. It whispers:
- "You've done this before."
- "You don't need to double-check."
- "You already know the drill."
It's sneaky. It doesn't announce itself.
And it feels like you're being productive until something goes wrong.
Complacency isn't laziness.
It's false confidence.
My Close Call With Complacency
Before my accident, I had years in the trade. I had knowledge. I had skill. I had confidence.
Too much confidence.
I trusted my habits more than I trusted the process. I trusted my experience more than I trusted verification. I wasn't reckless. I was routine.
But the routine became dangerous.
The morning of my incident, everything felt familiar. The crew. The task. The site. It was just another day… until it wasn't.
That's how complacency works. It makes danger look normal.
And it almost took me out.
Where Complacency Hides on the Job
The most dangerous aspect of complacency is its invisibility.
It doesn't wear a warning label. It doesn't show up on the JHA. It hides in plain sight, tucked inside the things we think we've mastered. And as someone who lived through a near-fatal moment caused by routine, I can tell you this: complacency doesn't knock. It waits.
Below are the four most common hiding places where I see complacency sneak into high-risk work and how they quietly erode even the strongest crews if we're not paying attention.
1. In Repetitive Tasks
When you've done something a hundred times, your brain doesn't treat it like a hazard anymore; it treats it like a habit. You move through it on autopilot.
That's when your eyes stop scanning. Your hand skips the test. Your mind assumes the equipment is fine because it always has been.
"We've done this before" is not a safety plan; it's a blindfold.
That's why I coach crews to ask a simple question at the start of every "routine" task:
"What's different today?"
Because if you don't ask, you won't notice.
2. In High-Performing Crews
This one catches people off guard.
You'd think the sharpest crews, the ones with rhythm, trust, and experience, would be the safest.
But often, they're the most at risk.
Why?
Because when everything's working smoothly, no one wants to be the one to hit pause.
You don't want to be the person who slows down the job.
You don't want to be the voice that says, "Let's double-check that," when everyone else is already moving.
So you stay silent.
And silence is the birthplace of assumptions.
In high-performing crews, the pressure to keep momentum often drowns out the instinct to verify. That's why leadership must create a culture where pausing is praised, not punished.
3. In Long Shifts & Fatigue
The body can push through exhaustion, but the brain? It cuts corners.
After 10, 12, or even 16 hours, your mind starts to miss things. You skip steps, not out of laziness, but out of mental fog.
Fatigue isn't just physical. It's cognitive. And when it sets in, your brain does the most dangerous thing it can do in our trade:
It starts to rely on muscle memory.
This is where SYNC and AAA Frameworks come in. These tools aren't just about planning; they're mental resets.
They help crews pause, clarify, and re-verify roles, assumptions, and energy levels before fatigue turns familiar work into risky business.
4. In "Nothing Ever Happens Here" Sites
Do you ever notice that the most incident-prone sites are often the quietest?
It's not because they're inherently more dangerous.
It's because the crew has stopped looking.
They've started believing the myth: "Nothing ever happens here."
And that's when it happens.
The danger of a quiet site is that it breeds comfort.
And comfort leads to trust in routine instead of awareness of risk.
In my training, I call these "low-frequency, high-consequence zones."
They're the places where people stop using their tools because "nothing's happened before."
But it's not about what's happened, it's about what could.
The Bottom Line
Complacency doesn't feel dangerous.
It feels familiar. Comfortable. "Normal."
And that's what makes it deadly.
The job site doesn't care how many times you've done it.
It cares how present you are this time.
So wherever you see repetition, confidence, fatigue, or quiet,
Train your crew to stop and ask:
"What are we assuming?"
"What's changed?"
"Are we too comfortable?"
Because the moment complacency shows up, safety starts walking out the door.
The Crew That Didn't See It Coming
Let me share a story from a consulting trip I took.
A crew was setting a pole using a standard digger derrick. They had done this type of job dozens of times: same steps, same equipment, same terrain. The job was so routine that they stopped doing tool inspections. Then came the snap.
The hydraulic line burst during the lift.
The boom drifted, and the load shifted. One of the crew members had wandered inside the fall zone just out of habit. He wasn't injured—but it was too close.
What saved him?
Luck.
And let me tell you something; luck is not a strategy.
The Paradigm: Complacency Is the Enemy of Safety
Do you want to build a crew that stays sharp? Do you want to lead people who go home every night? Then you have to teach this:
Just because it's familiar doesn't mean it's safe.
Comfort is not clarity.
And routine doesn't mean risk-free.
Complacency is one of the most underestimated hazards in our trade because it doesn't show up on the JHA.
It shows up in your habits.
3 Strategies to Fight Complacency Starting Today
We can't afford to "hope" our people stay alert. You must build habits that challenge your comfort. Here's how:
1. Start Every Job With a "What's Different?" Check
Even if the job looks like a repeat, ask this out loud:
"What's different about today?"
Is it the weather?
The crew?
The equipment?
The traffic?
The fatigue level?
Get your crew in the habit of scanning the environment through fresh eyes.
Because if nothing's different, you're probably not looking hard enough.
2. Use the "Pause and Point" Rule
When someone says, "We've done this a hundred times," that's your cue to pause and point out what still needs attention.
That might sound like:
- "Let's double-check the footing before we lift."
- "Remind me, who's spotting and who's on the handline?"
- "Let's walk the route one more time before we roll out."
Introduce friction into the workflow intentionally. That little pause could prevent a big mistake.
3. Call Out Routine Blind Spots
Hold space in your safety meetings to uncover areas where the crew may have slipped into auto-pilot. Don't just focus on what's working. Ask where things might be getting too comfortable.
Ask direct questions like:
- "What part of the job do we skip over because it feels routine?"
- "Where have we stopped double-checking because it's always been fine?"
- "What steps have become so automatic we don't even think about them anymore?"
These blind spots won't always be obvious, but they're there. And bringing them into the open is how you start replacing routine with intention.
The Story You Don't Want to Tell
I've met guys who say, "I've been doing this for 20 years and never had a close call."
I smile. And I say, "Then you've been lucky. Not sharp."
I say that because I was that guy. I didn't think it could happen to me.
I had all the skills, the knowledge, the know-how.
What I didn't have was humility.
Complacency fed my confidence, and my confidence turned off my awareness.
That's how I nearly died doing a job I knew inside and out.
What's Comfort Costing You?
So here's the question I'll leave with you this week:
Where in your routine are you starting to get too comfortable?
Is it that job you could do with your eyes closed?
That site you've worked a hundred times?
That crew you trust so much you've stopped checking in?
Because those are the cracks in the armor.
And if you don't look for them, complacency will find them for you.
Closing Challenge: Stay Uncomfortable
This isn't about fear. It's about respect.
Respect for the work.
Respect for the risks.
Respect for the fact that what we do is dangerous and always will be.
Comfort is a luxury we don't have in high-risk environments.
So my challenge to you is simple:
- Stay sharp.
- Stay humble.
- Stay a little uncomfortable.
Because the crew that challenges the routine is the crew that gets home every time.
Want a simple way to break routine and stay sharp?
Download my free SYNC Framework. The tool crews use to reset, refocus, and reduce risk every shift.
See you next week.
Stay safe. Stay sharp.
—Lito
