by Rosa Carrillo – author of “OHS Voices from the Resistance”
First published here: https://carrilloconsultants.com/humble-inquiry-for-health-and-safety-professionals/
Share your experiences with humble inquiry in the comments – how has it helped you grow and connect with others?
Humble Consulting: Lessons from Edgar Schein
Ed Schein, a man passionate about becoming a better helper, drew inspiration from his own life experiences—supporting loved ones through addiction and alcoholism. His book, “Humble Inquiry,” highlights the power of genuine curiosity. Despite his impressive titles and expertise, he effortlessly set his ego aside to ask questions with a true desire to help.
Key Points for helping with Humble Inquiry in Health and Safety.
- Be Genuinely Curious: Sometimes the most powerful questions are the ones that might seem naive. Schein’s story about a CEO’s team wrestling with a VP appointment proves this. His simple question about the role’s responsibilities cut through the confusion and led to a quick solution. As H&S advisors, we need to be willing to risk looking a little clueless to uncover the real problems and guide others towards solutions.
- Beware of Being the Expert: Remember that time Schein tried to tell a bunch of computer engineers how to improve their own product? Yeah, it didn’t go well. To be truly effective, experts must be seen as “insiders” and equals. Empathy, through active listening, is a far more effective entry point than jumping in with solutions. This is a critical skill for H&S practitioners, as the interviews for my book revealed that feeling unheard is a major source of frustration.
- Simultaneous Diagnosis and Intervention: Schein understood that “real” problems are often just symptoms of deeper worries, sometimes hidden even from the person we’re trying to help. Skillful facilitation can bring these worries to the surface safely. Remember his example of the group constantly interrupting each other? Schein’s simple act of writing down their ideas on a flip chart addressed the underlying issue of not feeling heard. This highlights a huge gap in H&S training: the lack of facilitation skills. To bridge this gap, we need to embrace the role of the unconscious in risk management and explore concepts like mindfulness and self-awareness.
I’ve conducted hundreds of safety culture assessments and presented recommendations, only to have them mostly ignored. It can be frustrating, but Schein’s work offers a different perspective. Instead of seeing problems as things to be fixed, we can view them as worries to be understood.
Conclusion
We will continue to explore Humble Inquiry in Health and Safety. And, in the next article, we’ll delve into the importance of mindfulness and self-awareness for H&S practitioners. By developing these skills, we can become better equipped to facilitate meaningful change and foster a culture of care within our profession.
Rob Long says
Rosa, thanks so much for the blog. You were indeed fortunate to have a mentor like Ed. I have loved both books by Ed on helping and have used some of his ideas to help organizations better tackle risk. My favorite is the book just called ‘Helping’ and this sets out what should be the foundation for safety. Unfortunately, safety is NOT a helping profession, it is a policing industry. Very few have much idea about helping.
Another research I love on helping is Gerard Egan. How I wish such books were part of the safety curriculum but alas, not so.
Unless an activity is about helping, it can never be a profession.
Ed’s idea of humble inquiry is also critical to an industry that breeds the arrogance of ‘telling’. What a strange industry that teaches people that they know everything once they get that diploma. and yet, know so little about personhood, ethics, motivation, semiotics, the unconscious, social politics etc. Such a sad industry that continues to peddle amateurish goop on behaviourism and ‘what we do around here’ in such proud ignorance.
As long as you have those hierarchy of controls, hazards are counted and PPE is worn, job is done. Meanwhile in zero land brutalism is the norm.
Such a long way to go before it will ever be a profession.
Rosa Carrillo says
Thank you for the comment Rob. I’m so glad you mentioned Schein’s book titled helping. I struggled with which book to talk about first Because like you. He was very prolific. My intention is to keep offering information and ideas from outside the industry that can help the people Working in health and safety make the ethic of care central to their work. And For those who are interested, Yes fully enter into a helping profession.