Embracing Differences

As safety management evolves, we have discovered that the language of safety can at times be perceived as something reserved for specialists. Concerningly, the use of language [and associated tools] without a clear overarching objective can legitimize the very issues that threaten safety. There can even be a rejection from having open, honest yet tough debates that managing safety requires. Such ‘tough debates’ and disagreements often reveal a lack of understanding and cohesion amongst all stakeholders yet they must be had if the benefits of Safety Management are to be fully realized.

As humans, we tend to examine reality through the lenses of black and white, right and wrong, and in the world of safety, commonly through compliance and non-compliance. In this podcast, the world-class anthropologist Ed Schein along with Peter Schein urges us to practice the anthropology of here and now. The world we have created is far too uncertain and it is only by embracing the uniqueness of each situation we can make sense of and successfully navigate uncertainty.

We are living in interesting and unusual times. People across industries and work sectors are experiencing high degree of uncertainty and stress in their work and personal lives. In this podcast, Chris Turner, an emergency consultant in medicine and a TEDx speaker, raises the importance of civility and respect amongst team members to achieve a culture of high performance in these uncertain times.

I am a brown-skinned man and I have spent most of my working life in the ‘civilized world’ world as an ethnic minority. Listening to other people’s perspectives, paying attention to their words and gestures, acknowledging their presence and needs, and being curious about what others have to say was not my usual reaction perhaps because of my childhood experiences. In fact, for the most part of my early life I was a poor listener, and, in most social interactions, I had a strong urge to prove myself right. This is the story of how deep listening came to me accidentally and how it transformed my life.

In this podcast, systems thinker, and renowned business and safety specialist, Rakesh Maharaj speaks with Nippin to explore how social anthropology, systems thinking and systemic leadership applies to safety within and across organizations. The conversation is a collection of personal experiences about diversity and inclusion and how it informs their thinking and practice. To find out more listen to this podcast.

In this podcast, a world-renowned safety scientist and expert in human factors shares his research and experience about the role of psychological confidence in organizational learning. Psychological confidence, unlike psychological safety, is an emerging concept in safety sciences. What makes this concept unique, and more importantly, how does it improve the quality of learning from accidents. Listen to this discussion to learn more.

There are 3 basic systems in the real world: complex, chaotic, and order. The first two are natural. As humans, we prefer stability,  certainty, predictability and thus have created an order system by imposing policies, standards, structures, rules, best practices, etc. In this podcast, Gary Wong helps us understand the power of embracing differences when working in complex and ordered systems. The Cynefin Framework is introduced to show that how you make decisions and act depends on the context and the system you currently are in.

Watching how a co-worker is treated in the aftermath of a mishappening goes a long way in winning an employee’s trust in their leaders. In this podcast, Clive F. Lloyd, author of the influential book, ‘Next Generation Safety Leadership: From compliance to care’ helps us understand why business leaders and safety professionals should make care and empathy their highest priority in responding to crisis situations. Despite their best intentions, many organisations fail to live up to this expectation and end up creating long-lasting and irreparable damage to employee relationship. Clive warns us that recognizing this as a problem is the first step in resolving it.

This podcast is a discussion about social anthropology with maritime anthropologist Dr. Adrienne Mannov. When confronted with the unfamiliar, how do we react and what do we do? In most instances, we discard the unfamiliar and label it as strange, even uncivilized, or primitive when it does not match with our own experiences, norms, values, and beliefs. In so doing we create divisive societies and polarized opinions. Social anthropology helps us understand the unfamiliar by looking at deeper patterns that define who we are as human beings, bridge our differences and connect us with one another as one human race. Listen to the podcast to learn more.

Container ships have become the hallmark of globalization and free trade. In the last two decades, there has been an exponential increase in both the size and cargo-carrying capacity of container ships. The economists argue that the increase in size is justified because of the efficiency gains and scale economies that these giant ships now offer. But at the same time, a series of accidents at sea including the recent grounding of the Ever Given has led many experts to question the assumptions behind the increase in ship size. In this episode, Jan Hoffman from UNCTAD helps us understand the economic imperatives behind the increase in ship sizes and its implications for safety and resilience. Is bigger really better? Find out by listening to this podcast.