In this video the authors of 51 Stories in Culture, To Live and To Be, discuss their book. You can see the video here:
You can purchase the ebook here: https://www.humandymensions.com/product/51-stories-in-culture/
Dr Nippin Anand and Dr Rob Long met a number of years ago and since then have been on a mutual learning journey of sharing, discovery and realisation. This book is part of that journey in interconnectivity.
Both authors have extensive experience in the risk and safety world and decided that a book on culture was worth writing. Taking on such a task is of course a paradox, one cannot learn about culture from a book or via a series of propositions. Nevertheless, the book provides an opportunity for learning, in contrast to an industry that thinks culture is ‘what we do around here’.
What we know from most publications on safety culture is that Safety thinks culture is some kind of behaviourist exercise. Most of the critical elements of culture are missing from most texts on culture published by the safety industry. Typical examples are found in the AIHS BoK.
The book is structured around the Culture Cloud semiotic and systematically weaves its way through the critical factors of the cloud. The cloud is pictured below:
The metaphor of the cloud anchors the book to the turbulent nature of culture as an experience one feels rather than what one analyses. Using a semiotic foundation enables the authors to both tell their stories but to also share their experiences in felt knowing. There is no critical element in culture that is left out of discussion. Indeed, if you used this cloud as a method to audit books on safety culture, you would find many elements in purple missing from discussion.
The book doesn’t get caught up in propositional thinking but rather suggests that culture is best learned experientially. It is an invitation for you to join in discussion and reflections about living and being in risk. It discusses many critical aspects of culture considered taboo in the safety world.
Why is this book important? It speaks to a culture that is yet to learn what culture is about. It addresses wide gaps in understanding and offers this culture a new way of viewing itself and the challenge of risk and culture change.
Dr Rob Long
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