At it's heart I think the phrase is essentially a political one. It signifies at attempt to address the balance between success and safety, rather than skew com

At it's heart I think the phrase is essentially a political one. It signifies at attempt to address the balance between success and safety, rather than skew completely towards success. When I was in the army fellow officers would say their first priority was to get their soldiers home safely, to which the soldiers would joke "can you fly me home tomorrow then Sir?"