Embracing Differences

Do you believe in Zero Harm? Is that your goal for avoiding injuries and ensuring safety of your people? Is that an expectation imposed upon your organisation?Here is a true story and an attempt to challenge the Zero Harm ideology prevalent in almost all safety critical industries. Earlier this year, I interviewed a seafarer whose brother went missing at sea. We don't know under what circumstances Captain Mathew (name anonymised) went missing or, if you like, what was the cause of this accident. Unfortunately, the sea does not provide many answers but this painful story, told from his brother's perspective who also happens to be a seafarer, reveals the dark side of the Zero Harm ideology. There's a lot of debates and discussions in the risk and safety industry whether Zero should be a goal or not. There are practitioners, academics and researchers who believe that there is nothing wrong with having Zero as an aspiration. I hope that this story will serve to slow people down and think about how a seemingly aspiring goal translates into practice in global shipping. I call it a true story but it is shaped by my biased and subjective views. True only to the extent that some may find resonance with this story while others find it deeply uncomfortable.This story touches upon several themes:The unintended effects of absolute and binary goalsWhy perfection (Zero) cannot be a goal to motivate fallible humans.Why compassion, empathy, listening and understanding cannot coexist with absolute and binary goals?Why safety inspections, audits and investigations are so far from an objective exercise?And finally, the entire culture of the risk and safety industry is based on the idea of harm aversion. The power of this story lies in understanding how the ideology of harm aversion translate into practice. More specifically, absolute goals such as Zero Harm lead to more harm in a risk-averse society.  This story was first published in the book, 51 stories in Culture, co-authored by Dr Nippin Anand and Dr Robert Long. Link to the book: https://novellus.solutions/product/51-stories-in-culture-to-live-and-to-be/

Many organisations declare safety as one of the values in the vision and mission statements. Can safety be a value?When fallible humans conduct high risk operations, there is no certainty that people will not get injured. When people do get injured we have failed to live by our values.In this video, instead of making an argument, we will use a personal story to illustrate why safety cannot be a value.This is Embracing Differences and I am Nippin Anand (PhD), a former ship captain and an anthropologist.

This podcast is based on the work of the American Anthropologist Ernest Becker's perennial thesis - 'the denial of death'. In this podcast, Professor Sheldon Solomon explains how death anxiety, which is unique to the human species, leads to a quest for meaning, self-esteem and cultural worldviews. Solomon explains why it is so important for us take an interdisciplinary approach to understanding culture and why we must synthesise the wisdom of ages and sages and combine it with science if we truly want to make sense of human behaviour. YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecYC_Y1UnE8

In less than 12 hours, President Trump blamed that DEI was behind the Washington mid-air collision. How did Trump connect so many dots at the speed of light and establish what went wrong with such conviction? And why do so many buy into this DEI ideology as the cause of the accident? In this podcast, I suggest that the president is using fear of death to heighten public anxiety, create a divide and spread hatred in the society.  We will discuss: Why do humans fear death? How do we react and how do we relate with others when we are confronted with death? How does this explain President Trump's reaction to Washington midair collision?

Myth busting i.e. viewing a myth as a false story, is a political ideology. It is not science. Myth busting creates differences and it spreads hatred in the society. In a culturally diverse society, understanding myth busting is our pathway to cultural intelligence and improving our relationships with others. In this podcast, I will explain what is a myth and why myth busting should concern the risk and safety industry and our society at large. What are the dangers of myth busting and how we can avoid falling into this trap.    We will discuss: What is a myth? A short story of a myth. What is the power of a myth? What is myth busting? Why myth busting is an ideology (not science)? Why myth busting should concern us?  

Modern science is busy bursting myths but is that the right approach? In this visual story, we will discuss why myths are not false stories and how understanding myths can reveal patterns in our narratives? We think we are scientific and evidence-based but when faced with an existential or moral crisis every culture turns to its own myths for meaning. For this, we will compare between Eastern and Western mythospheres (collection of myths, symbols and rituals). Knowledge of different cultures and their myths can reveal new patterns in our stories, widen our perspectives and improve our decision making, leadership skills and risk management.  

In October this year, I travelled to Canada for work and on the first night of arrival, while still jet lagged and sleepless, I was searching the internet to read about the culture of First Nations peoples of Canada. There I came across a series of 6 videos between the international expert in humanitarian law, Professor Kathleen Mahoney and the former National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Larry Philip Fontaine facilitated by the Canadian TV Journalist Lisa LaFlamme.It was an extremely rich discussion where one could learn so much about the history and culture of Canada and a telling story of #culturechange.A couple of weeks ago I was fortunate to have both Kathleen and Phil on my podcast #embracingdifferences. I was humbled that both of them gave me their time to share their stories which I can now share within my own community.You may think what has the risk and safety industry got to do with the history of the Indigenous people and to this I say give it a listen. It's a great lesson for anyone interested in understanding culture and how to successfully create culture change.  

What happens when someone by-passes an alarm, turns the wrong valve on the manifold, ignores a barrier, or leaves a winch lever unattended. Where does your imagination take you? What questions come to your mind? Whatever model you follow, whatever methods you use, everything begins with our assumptions about how the human mind and what does it even mean to be a human being? Much of risk and safety - new or old, traditional or contemporary, 1 or 2 – implicitly assumes that the mind is encased in the brain and we are caught between the left brain / right brain metaphor. Would you like to understand the science behind decision making? Would you like to find out what leading thinkers and cutting-edge research has to say about the human mind? In this visual story, we will discuss why thinking about the mind as the brain is not only misleading but also unethical at many levels. This brain-centred approach to investigating accidents, and more generally, risk, safety and learning turns human beings into objects for measurement and hazards that need to be controlled. We will discuss how to approach accident investigations, how to engage with people and how to ethically, sensibly and practically learn from accidents. This story is full of practical examples and it is based on my recent book, Are We Learning from Accidents? You can read my book here: https://nippinanand.com/ You can also find out all about our work here: https://novellus.solutions/ And you can check out our events on this page: https://novellus.solutions/events/ Link to the podcast with John Soria: https://novellus.solutions/insights/p... Link to the article with John Soria:   / situating-meaning-accidents-seafarers-stor...  

In 2012 the passenger ship Costa Concordia sank off the coast of Italy, resulting in the death of 32 people. Amongst other things, the captain was criticised for his casual attitude towards formulating the ship's voyage plan, sailing 0.5 miles too close to the coast, and ‘disregarding to properly consider the distance from the coast'. The captain was sentenced to 16 years in the prison. While the rest of the world (including leading experts in the industry) criticised the captain for navigating the safe too close to the islands. even five years after the accident when I met the captain in his hometown he maintained that this was a normal practice in the cruise industry. It was a powerful insight into the culture of the cruise industry. In this episode, we will discuss why culture is so often misunderstood within the risk and safety industry using this story. 1) what are normal practices and why do we need to understand them? 2) where are we today with our understanding of ‘normal practices'? 3) how a high-risk manoeuvre became a normal practice in the cruise industry? 4) what safety sciences won't tell us about normal practices? 5) how can we uncover ‘normal practices' within our organisations? Each of these questions will be addressed through stories and experiences that we can all relate with. This is the second in a series of episodes based on my recent book, ‘Are We Learning from Accidents?'. A previous video in this episode was focused on why people don't speak up. The next few episodes will focus on: 1) collective sensemaking in a crisis, 2) the power of scapegoating (blame), 3) 3) how do human beings learn, unlearn, relearn and make decisions. You can read a sample of my book here: https://nippinanand.com/ Read more about our work here: https://novellus.solutions/ and check out our future workshops here: https://novellus.solutions/events/  

In January 2012, the Costa Concordia went aground and capsized off the coast of Italy. One of the most disturbing aspects of this accident was that a group of competent officers and an experienced captain on the bridge were not able to detect that the ship was heading straight into the rocks.   In this podcast, I will present the power of framing using the story of the Costa Concordia accident. I interviewed the captain before he was sentenced to prison, and I was surprised by how the captain responded to my open-ended questions during the course of our interview and how it led me to a completely different view of the accident and learning than the one presented in the public domain. I have also recently written a book on this accident – Are We Learning from Accidents?   We will focus on the following questions: 1. Why was the Costa Concordia accident framed as a problem of ‘speaking up' and the failure of ‘bridge resource management'? 2. What are the parallels between concepts such as ‘psychological safety', ‘crew resource management', ‘non-technical skills' and ‘soft skills'? 3. Why do these concepts appeal so much to the risk and safety industry? 4. What are the alternative frameworks to think about ‘speaking up'? 5. And importantly, why we should never underestimate the power of framing?   This is the first in a series of videos based on my recent book, ‘Are We Learning from Accidents?'. In the next few weeks, I will post more videos on a range of topics including 1) normalisation of risk, 2) collective sensemaking in a crisis, 3) understanding safety culture, 4) the power of scapegoating (blame), 5) what is learning, and 6) how do human beings learn, unlearn, relearn and make decisions.   You can read a sample of my book and it is available for purchase at: https://nippinanand.com/  

Welcome to Mindfulness, Self-Awareness, and Risk, the podcast where we explore the intersection of human experience and risk management. I'm your host, Nippin Anand, and I'm excited to have Rosa Antonia Carrillo to embark on this journey with us. If you ask operational leaders and organizations about risk management, you'll likely hear about control, hazards, and audits. But what about caring, mindfulness, or self-awareness? What about the importance of friendship and tapping into our unconscious? Surprisingly, these are the very concepts that are now at the forefront of risk management. This podcast dives into the world of mindfulness and its profound impact on risk reduction. In healthcare, research demonstrates the positive effects of mindfulness on both patient care and practitioner well-being. It's sparked a conversation about embodiment – the crucial synergy between our unconscious and conscious minds—a synergy can only happen when both are aware of each other. Mindfulness  enriches our world when we learn to make the unconscious conscious. We'll also be exploring the concept of "weak signals," a term coined by Karl Weick to describe the subtle anomalies in organizations that can hint at serious underlying issues. Mindfulness can enhance our ability to detect these weak signals, as well as improve our listening and empathy skills. After all, we can see and hear more when we're not consumed by our own thoughts. And finally, we'll delve into the power of friendship and the importance of relationships. Gallup research has shown that having a friend at work is a key indicator of high performance. Connectedness is essential for well-being and performance. A true friend can help us bring our unconscious thoughts to light, leading to better decision-making and risk mitigation. This is key to organizations that struggle to bring the tacit, implicit to the surface so that problems can be addressed in a timely manner. Join us as we explore these timely ideas for tackling risk in an uncertain world. On this podcast, we'll uncover how mindfulness, self-awareness, and human connection can revolutionize the way we approach risk management. Our hope is that this conversation will help you stay present, stay connected, and stay safe.

This podcast discussion represents two people from different parts of the globe with different backgrounds looking for common ground.   As you listen you can initially hear different perspectives and perceptions. It felt that we began to synchronize at some point and eventually arrived at the same place. It should not be surprising. There are 8 billion of us on the planet. While we all may look completely different; we are designed exactly the same.   When we move to defend our belief's, we often sacrifice the ability to move forward and seek the learning that is necessary to raise the discussion to higher understanding. Curiosity initiates logic, reason and intuition. Defense moves us to justify and rationalize a belief or an action in the past. Forward is the future we are trying to shape. Backward is the past we cannot change.   We own our belief's. There is no reason to defend them.  Someone with different belief's is not a threat to ours. Someone else cannot steal our belief. However, if we are curious and listen to others, we can then decide for ourselves if new information somehow may shape our change our current belief. We don't have to like another's perspective or their idea. We just have to listen.   As you listen to this podcast, see if you can hear how the different perspectives begin to align. We can release and discover potential in each other, or we can suppress it. We have that power.   The question is, are you willing to walk through the door?  

This podcast started off with reflecting on the power of embracing fallibility. Dr John Flach, my guest, then brought his own experiences and how a renowned scientist helped him and supported him when he experienced a setback in life. We then spoke about kindness and briefly touched on the importance of social resilience. The discussion then moved from kindness to humility and the importance of humility in understanding and learning from surprises. From humility we moved into courage and why courage is so important to break free from dogma and become critical thinkers. We ended this session with the importance of metaphysics, meaning making and methodology. Our discussion ended with why we need to be more kind and humble to pursue science.

This podcast questions the centrality of Behaviourism in our lives, and how in our quest for simplifying human behaviour into a particular trait, we can (unknowingly) do so much harm to the others. The podcast is based on a collection of stories from my personal lives. A lot of these stories are reflections from everyday life when we learn to live in awareness. I call them moments in Synchronicity.

We hear every now and then that methodology does not matter, it is a topic for academic discussions. What really matters is results, success and outcome. Is that true? I just returned from Canberra and wrote a paper on this topic. I hope this podcast will make you think and reflect on your own methodology in risk and safety and why we should talk about methodology.   

This is the third in a series of three podcast with Greg Smith, the author of the book Paper Safe. In this podcast Greg and I discuss the notion of critical risks and critical risk management from a legal and strategic risk management perspective. We hope that this podcast will make you more mindful and critical about how to think about critical risks in your organisation.

This is the second in a series of three podcast with Greg Smith, the author of the book Paper Safe. In this podcast Greg and I discuss his new book Proving Safety, why he chose the title and the subtitle, and how is the book different from his previous book Paper Safe.

Motivation, purpose and a search for meaning: An interview with Greg Smith   This is the first in a series of three in-person podcasts between Greg Smith and Dr Nippin Anand. Nippin started off interviewing Greg in his hometown Perth to find out what motivated him to choose a career path in health and safety law. Later in this series, the two will discuss Greg's new book Proving Safety and their take on how organisations understand and address critical risks.

This podcast is a discussion between Ron Gant and Nippin Anand about learning within the context of accident investigations. Ron and Nippin discuss the underlying beliefs, myths and the narratives of accident investigations and what it takes to learn from accidents. The podcast is based on Nippin's recent book, ‘Are we learning from accidents?'.     Further details about the book can be found here: https://novellus.solutions/product/are-we-learning-from-accidents-nippin-anand/

In this podcast, Greg and Nippin discuss how can we learn from accidents. Greg asks Nippin a range of questions including who needs to learn, why we need to learn, and whether or not learning is even an issue of importance within organisations. You will discover some uncomfortable truths and deep-seated beliefs about how investigations are conducted and why we are so far away from learning from accidents.

In this podcast, Nippin speaks with Ivan Pupulidy and Crista Vesel about their latest book, ‘Human and Organisational Potential.' The two authors discuss the motivation to write the book and the practical benefits that it brings to the risk and safety world which, in recent years, has become increasingly conscious about understanding and improving the human condition at work.  You can order their book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Human-Organization-Potential-Ivan-Pupulidy/dp/B0CQ477B5F/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?crid=2UIL4MMCBZZ55&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.3ua2ZUpC5HER7YpS6A1Y5gv6dwF1lfxjI50SWN9KHKQ4ZP5UnMz5-WNwU2MHiBjN.Gn63gIh8L78EMaqukBdKpziseYctWQySILIOqxqvSmw&dib_tag=se&keywords=ivan+pupulidy&qid=1714564069&sprefix=%2Caps%2C102&sr=8-1-fkmr0  

I was in Athens a few weeks ago and I visited a church there. Upon seeing a picture hanging on the wall, I told the priest, ‘We have a very similar image in Hindu temples.'    And you know what the priest said, ‘but this is real.' So, my faith is mythical and yours is real!    In science, we do the same.    A quest for ‘root cause' is real. ‘Swiss Cheese' is real, and witch hunt is mythical?   How interesting, huh??   Our ‘progressive society' is so busy ‘debunking' myth and creating a divide between what is mythical and what is real. But what really is a myth and can science and our quest for truth ever replace myth? And when we ‘debunk' a myth what do we replace it with? Is science not a myth?   Here's a podcast recorded in an Indian temple with my two friends Dr Rob Long and Matthew Thorne where we talk about myth, mythology and mythosphere and discuss a few popular myths of risk and safety.   I hope this podcast will make you think, give you an alternative view on myth not better or worse, just an alternative view) and why human beings can never do away with myth in this day and age or in the future.   If you are left confused or disturbed, that is not necessarily a bad thing. What could be detrimental for learning is the temptation to dismiss an alternative viewpoint and especially one that challenges our deepest beliefs (and myths).   Disagreements and differences are so very welcome – how else do we learn!  

We often hear during risk and safety discussions that methodology does not matter, methods don't matter, philosophy doesn't matter, what matters is results, what matters is that whatever we set to achieve – we can achieve. And so, results matter, process is not important. Is that so?   What is a methodology?   Why do we need one?   Can we escape methodology and method?   What are we really saying when we say that methodology does not matter?   Can we ever abandon methodology?   What is the hidden message here?   What are the dangers of falling in the trap of a ‘methodology free' world?   I hope this podcast will make you think and reflect on a simple question – what is your methodology when it comes to tackling risk?  And should that matter?   The podcast was done on a motorway whilst driving in Chennai, India. If you really want to enjoy the feeling of this podcast, I suggest watching it and not listening to the audio alone. The noise of the traffic and the feeling of being thrown around on bumpy roads makes it so much more fun. but of course, it is available both as an audio and video podcast. I hope you will enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed creating it for you. About Novellus: We are an internationally recognised team with a focus on risk management, safety culture and organisation learning using proven methods in Social Psychology of Risk.

This is the second in a series of 2 episodes on psychosocial harm. The question we ask in this two-part series – how safety practices can do more harm than good? In the first episode, our focus was more on understanding the problem of psychosocial harm from a legal and organisational perspective. In this episode, we focus on some practical ways to address these issues. I hope you will enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed creating this episode and it will make you think and reflect.    Rob, Greg, Pedro and Nippin are conducting a series of workshops in Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong in May 2024.   Event dates: https://novellus.solutions/events/   About Novellus: We are an internationally recognised team with a focus on risk management, safety culture and organisation learning using proven methods in Social Psychology of Risk.   

Someone in your workplace has been bullied, discriminated or harassed. What do you do? Do you think people in your organisation are prepared to deal with these issues.    This podcast focuses on psychosocial risks and we question if we are doing more harm than good in the name of safety practices.    This is the first of a series of 2 podcasts where Greg Smith, Rob Long and Nippin Anand discuss the psychosocial harm that results from safety practices (for instance investigations, audits, inspections). The discussion takes a broader view of the problem from a legal, organisational and regulatory perspective.   We hope that this discussion will trigger some questions and introspections in you and within your groups.

Do you think safety is about saving lives? In this podcast, Rob, Nippin and Pedro question the myth of ‘Safety saves lives'. What do we mean when we say we are in the business of ‘saving lives.' Saving from whom, saved by whom and for whom? Where does this myth originate from? Whose purpose does it serve? What are the (unintended) implications of using this language when we are unaware of the underlying beliefs and myths? And finally, what could be the alternative ways to think about safety that can lead us to a pathway of humanising risk and relating with people?   We hope that this discussion will make you think and question your assumptions about safety and shift your focus towards meaningfully tackling risks in an uncertain world.    

It's the start of a new year and I thought it would be wonderful to start off on a positive note. The topic of this year's first podcast is imagination.   What is imagination? Why do we need people to be more imaginative, more creative in the risk and safety industry? And do we really need people to be imaginative in a compliance driven industry with strict rules to follow? What about the (unintended) consequences of thinking ‘outside the box' in a high risk environment?   These are some of the questions Dr Rob Long and I tackle in this conversation.

It is often said that safety people require a predisposition of care and empathy towards the others. Rosa Carrillo's well-researched book ‘OHS Voices from The Resistance' brings a paradox to surface. What if care and empathy make (safety) people vulnerable and fragile in the face of growing aggression and brutalism in the workplaces?   The book is packed with stories of people working in the safety function struggle to maintain their identity and become seen as misfits in their organisations. While some find themselves out grouped from within their own organisations, others consider abandoning the safety industry as a whole. Rosa's conversation with Nippin is deeply personal and reflective of her own struggles and ethnicity.    For those interested, Rosa's offers her wisdom on how to tackle and live with some of these issues: https://carrilloconsultants.com/product/voices-from-the-resistance/  

Nippin Anand and Pedro Ferreira follow-up on their conversation in Croatia A conversation about what it takes to bring cultural sensitivity into organisations. Nippin and Pedro discuss several examples of how fostering conversations that are not power dominated and personal agendas are not so much at play, can bring about a much better understanding of different perspectives. The understanding and sharing of different perspectives then brings about much enhanced decision-making.  

How do you understand culture, cultural sensitivity and risk intelligence? How can being culturally sensitive make us risk intelligent? Nippin Anand and Pedro Ferreira offer some thoughts. And guess where they are – in the cultural capital of Europe i.e. Rijeka, Croatia

This podcast is dedicated to people who put on a performance (a show) every day when they come to work. performance means many things, although in the risk and safety world we have become excessively focused on work and the narrative goes something like this that in order for the worker to perform well, she needs the right support from the company. Support in the form of the right processes, right tools, right instructions, right directions and the right rules. And once you do that, not only safety but reliability, quality and efficiency will also improve. Since it is all about performance, the focus still remains on measurements and dashboards, AI and technique.   But there is another kind of performance, the kind of performance that we notice with people who are going through so much in their lives (family issues, marital problems, trauma, identity crisis, discrimination, victimisation, bullying, harassment, sexual abuse and so on) and yet they are expected to put on a show when they turn to work. that's performance, just like Freddie Mercury making sure the show must go on.   Do we care to understand performance from this perspective? Is it even important given that this has ‘nothing' to do with work? Steve Shorrock and I had a heartfelt conversation on this topic and we share our thoughts in this podcast.   We hope this podcast will make you think, reflect and approach yourcolleagues and friends with a different perspective about performance.  

Our society has become so obsessed with measurement that even leisure, reading, wellbeing and healthy living have become a topic for efficiency. Many of us live and die without experiencing a life outside of efficiency and measurement. Take for instance the case of the father of scientific management Frederick Taylor. Even on his deathbed, Taylor was seen winding a stopwatch. What a paradox that we won't let go of measurement even when there is no time left to live?   But things are not that straightforward. How do we explain the countless time sitting on the couch browsing through social media without purpose or meaning? How do we explain investments in weapons of mass destruction? Clearly these are issues that cannot always be understood through the lenses of efficiency. In this podcast, Rob Long and I discuss the meaning of Technique as an ideology (or a worldview) that has come to dominate our lives. The ideology of Technique comes from the work of the French philosopher Jacques Ellul but was also discussed in the work of Heidegger and other philosophers.   We hope this podcast will make you think, reflect and live a more fulfilling life.

Greg Smith and I recently did a podcast where I asked Greg about how far the industry has onboarded his wisdom about paper safety. The discussion ended in a very interesting place where we both felt the need to articulate a very basic question – what is safety?    It sounds like a simple question but there are so many dimensions to the idea of safety that we never come to a shared understanding and so I'm afraid we don't have an answer but we do have some questions for you to reflect upon.

What is semiotics? The world is a semiosphere meaning the visual world around us have a symbolic and mythical meaning. In Social Psychology of Risk (SPoR), we often say that when it comes to making meaning of the outside world, ‘everything is significant' or ‘nothing never happens.' To a semiotically sensitive person i.e., to someone who becomes aware of the limits of their senses, there is so much wisdom in coming to terms with our ignorance. Being semiotically aware makes us culturally sensitive and risk intelligent.   I hope you will enjoy listening and watching this podcast as much as Dr Rob Long and I enjoyed creating it for you.

For decades, western societies have become increasingly committed to demonstrating in the most tangible way possible (i.e. through procedures) that risks are mitigated to all possible extent. Quantification and documentation have gradually come to dominate every aspect of risk, and disconnection with the reality of work has lead many to question the purpose of what we have created around work and safety. Greg Smith in his book “Paper Safe” has brilliantly unpacked this issue and the assumptions that sit in the back of it. Nippin met Greg while in Australia for a conversation that sheds light on how paperwork has so often become a blanket that rather than keeping us safe and warm, is blocking our view over the things that help us understand and tackle risk.

In this podcast, Rob Long and Nippin Anand discuss the uniqueness (not superiority) of Social Psychology of Risk. How SPoR methodology, methods and tools can help us become good listeners and become deliberate about our culture and culture change.   

Another car cast where Dr Rob Long, Dr Nippin Anand and Dr Pedro Ferreira explore briefly the evolutionary perspective about culture. Much of what we hear about culture and more specifically safety culture, is grounded in social science. Here is a different view on (safety)culture. Not better or worse, simply some alternative views and complimentary thoughts  

Continuing their car casts on the roads in Chennai (India), Dr Rob Long, Dr Pedro Ferreira and Dr Nippin Anand ask a basic question – what does it mean to be an educated person? What is a human person? What is personhood and why personhood matters when it comes to understanding culture?

Dr Rob Long, Dr Nippin Anand and Dr Pedro Ferreira are on a car journey on the roads in Chennai, India exploring the topic of learning. So not the usual podcast but a carcast! The discussion begins with a brief introduction to what learning is not. Drawing up examples of driving and the road journey in India we then discuss how human beings learn. We discuss what is embodiment and why embodied learning matters for learning to become effective and sustainable in an organisation.    

In this podcast Dr Nippin Anand and Dr Rob Long explore the meaning of ‘safety culture'. We explore the symbolism, rituals and myths of safety and question the ‘silences' (i.e., what is not spoken) in the discourse of safety. We discuss religion and taboos and why focusing on taboos is essential to understanding safety culture.

The risk and safety industry predominantly approaches human being as a rational being and decision making as a rational, calculative, brain-centric exercise. In this podcast, Dr Rob Long and Dr Nippin Anand discuss the need for transdisciplinary thinking to understand how we as human beings make decisions. Do you want to learn more about Social Psychology of Risk?

In this podcast, Dr Rob Long and Dr Pedro Ferreira discuss the ritual of ‘stop the job'. ‘Stop the job' is a tool to empower people at work to stop the continuity of an operation if they feel it is not safe to continue any longer. How does the idea of empowering someone and trusting their intuition and decision work in practice?

Have you ever wondered what is faith in true sense? Why do we hesitate so much to use the word faith? In this podcast Dr Rob Long and Dr Pedro Ferreira explore what is faith and why faith is essential to learning and living

A podcast on understanding culture, safety culture and how we as human beings learn with DrRob Long. In this podcast, Dr Rob Long and I explore why doubt is essential to learning? Have you ever paid close attention to how we speak? What is the language of risk and safety? In this podcast, we discuss why the language of doubt and uncertainty is essential to learning.

An Indian couple moves to Norway and within a few months, the Norwegian authorities take custody of their two children. This is a real-life story recently turned into a Bollywood movie and for us an opportunity to understand the power of culture and cultural differences. This podcast (and the YouTube video) is an attempt to map the story using the iCue method along with Dr Rob Long. The central question we ask in this exercise is ‘What does learning mean'?

A podcast with my new friend Craig Ashhurst where we discuss a number of things including wicked problems, why there is no such thing like normal, the importance of transdisciplinary thinking in risk management, why we should take our dreams seriously but most importantly, despite such diverse backgrounds how Craig and I ended up working, living and being something so similar.

This podcast is a discussion with Human Factors expert Suzanne Jackson about the practical application of Social Psychology of Risk. We discuss many real-life examples and we question the implications of the narrative about improving safety, efficiency and reliability in workplaces.

What is learning and what is the relationship between listening and learning? In a podcast with Nick Little, the headteacher of the International School of Aberdeen, we discuss learning and ‘paradigm change using the iCue framework. The iCue method is a framework for extracting intelligent cues(iCue) in a conversation with the view to listen, understand and improve the quality of decisions. After attending one of the iCue sessions, Nick offers his insights about the iCue method and how he believes that this approach can bring about a paradigm shift for learning and change.

What happens when change happens? Where do you look for the most reliable indications of change? How do you know you are moving in the right direction with your change management? Listen to the story of one organisation that has taken the first step in faith and embraced a new way of doing risk and safety. I hope you enjoy the authenticity of this conversation as much as I enjoyed creating this podcast. And I hope this podcast gives you some thoughts about learning and change.

In this podcast, we use the framework of rituals to tell a real life story. The central message of this podcast is to recognize the role of ritual in risk and safety management. The framework of rituals can help us become visually and verbally sensitive and improve our listening and observation skills.

When a teacher sends you a message that your 7 year old boy needs to stop making silly noises in the classroom and become academically focused, how are you supposed to react? Should we as parents become over-concerned about our child's behaviour, should we disregard this as a disproportionate response from a frustrated teacher or should we slow down, reflect, and question the hidden meaning and power of our words? In a fast-paced society where everyone is constantly under pressure to their goals, objectives and deadlines, this experience has once again taught me the power to slow down and think about the metaphors we use and what they can tell us about the unconscious bias in our language. It makes you thoughtful about your words, reflective and deliberate about your decisions and tremendously improves your relationships with others. Thank you @Steven Shorrock for joining me and listening to my story.