To place Lawrence's view in context, attached is his piece in Safeguard.

I sent Lawrence Waterman a link to this thread. He replied that his "crude comment" about 5% technical and 95% people was designed to stimulate thinking, and that the responses in the Forum "are much more thoughtful than my throwaway remark deserved".

Nevertheless, he adds:

"More mature and experienced practitioners, in general, do focus on the people they are working with, working for and seeking to influence - but the noise meter, the air sampling pump, the measuring tape, the spreadsheet are still sometimes deployed as barriers to hide behind, and to generate “comfort tasks”. I was suggesting that, however perplexing and critical the technical issues are, we need to remember what we are in safety and health for, and to never let the technical become a smokescreen behind which we fail to develop the crucial human relationships based on mutual respect that can sponsor and maintain real improvements in the workplace."