See Reliability Clearly: Lessons from the Georgia Mining Association Annual Conference
John Sewell, CMRP – JS Insight Consulting
Posted 9/17/2025
The Georgia Mining Association’s Annual Conference brings together operators, suppliers, and leaders from across the state’s mining industry. This year’s event offered a strong mix of technical updates, operational discussions, and forward-looking perspectives.
Between the educational sessions and the conversations on the trade floor, one theme stood out: perspective matters. The way we frame and view challenges often determines how effectively we solve them.
About the Georgia Mining Association
Founded in 1972, the Georgia Mining Association (GMA) promotes the state’s mining industry, which generates over $2.2 billion in product value annually and employs more than 13,000 people. Membership includes mining companies and allied trades working together to advance the industry through education, networking, and advocacy.
This year’s conference, held in Ponte Vedra, Florida, brought together over 70 companies for three days of industry updates, safety and environmental awards, and valuable networking with senior executives.
Insights from the Educational Sessions
Several presentations reinforced the value of looking at challenges through different lenses.
- Energy perspective: Kim Greene, President and CEO of Georgia Power, shared a compelling history of the state’s power generation and emphasized the importance of long-term thinking and grid reliability. Her message – that sustainable performance requires focus and commitment over time – applies just as much to plant reliability as it does to the energy grid.
- Workforce perspective: Jonathan Martin offered an employment law update that went beyond compliance, highlighting the importance of belonging, involvement, and communication in workplace culture. His message underscored that how we view an issue shapes the solutions we pursue.
- Economic perspective: Dr. Roger Tutterow of Kennesaw State University provided a macroeconomic view, outlining how global and national forces are likely to affect Georgia’s mining sector in the near and long term.
Using Lenses to See Reliability Clearly
At our booth, we used physical lenses to illustrate how perspective influences priorities and problem-solving in maintenance and reliability. Each lens has strengths and risks.
- Rose-Colored Glasses — Everything appears fine, reports look good, morale is high.
Strength: Encourages confidence and stability.
Risk: Can hide growing issues like reactive maintenance or declining PM completion.
Tip: Validate optimism with hard data. - Mosquito Eye — You see immense detail, but every view looks the same.
Strength: Reinforces known patterns.
Risk: May miss unexpected problems.
Tip: Ask an outsider or another department what they see. - Safety Glasses — You see what the frontline sees during work execution.
Strength: Grounded in real-world operations.
Risk: May be clouded by workarounds or legacy thinking.
Tip: Cross-check perception with actual performance data. - Kaleidoscope — Constant motion and variation; you see interconnectivity and dynamics.
Strength: Recognizes complex, system-wide relationships.
Risk: Can become overwhelming or paralyze decisions.
Tip: Focus on repeatable patterns, not just colorful activity.
Leaders in any industry can over-rely on a single lens, leading to distorted views. The most effective decision-making comes from switching between lenses to capture both the big picture and the ground-level reality.
Practical Steps for Leaders
Based on conversations with mining leaders and what we heard at the conference, here are a few ways to strengthen reliability decision-making:
- Bring in multiple perspectives. Engage a cross-section of stakeholders to understand the full situation.
- Know your default lens. We all gravitate to perspectives that have served us well in the past – but those same habits can create blind spots.
- Move from gut feel to data-driven action. Use facts to confirm assumptions and ensure actions link directly to the desired outcomes.
Looking Ahead
The mining industry in Georgia is poised for continued growth as demand for domestic minerals and critical resources rises. But the message applies far beyond mining: organizations that view challenges through multiple lenses, and ground their actions in data, will be better positioned to eliminate problems and seize opportunities.
In maintenance and reliability — as in mining — perspective makes all the difference.
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