• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

SafetyRisk.net

Humanising Safety and Embracing Real Risk

  • Home
    • About
      • Privacy Policy
      • Contact
  • FREE
    • Slogans
      • Researchers Reveal the Top 10 Most Effective Safety Slogans Of All Time
      • When Slogans Don’t Work
      • CLASSIC, FAMOUS and INFAMOUS SAFETY QUOTES
      • 500 OF THE BEST AND WORST WORKPLACE HEALTH and SAFETY SLOGANS 2023
      • CATCHY and FUNNY SAFETY SLOGANS FOR THE WORKPLACE
      • COVID-19 (Coronavirus, Omicron) Health and Safety Slogans and Quotes for the Workplace
      • Safety Acronyms
      • You know Where You Can Stick Your Safety Slogans
      • Sayings, Slogans, Aphorisms and the Discourse of Simple
      • Spanish Safety Slogans – Consignas de seguridad
      • Safety Slogans List
      • Road Safety Slogans 2023
      • How to write your own safety slogans
      • Why Are Safety Slogans Important
      • Safety Slogans Don’t Save Lives
      • 40 Free Safety Slogans For the Workplace
      • Safety Slogans for Work
    • FREE SAFETY eBOOKS
    • Free Hotel and Resort Risk Management Checklist
    • FREE DOWNLOADS
    • TOP 50
    • FREE RISK ASSESSMENT FORMS
    • Find a Safety Consultant
    • Free Safety Program Documents
    • Psychology Of Safety
    • Safety Ideas That Work
    • HEALTH and SAFETY MANUALS
    • FREE SAFE WORK METHOD STATEMENT RESOURCES
    • Whats New In Safety
    • FUN SAFETY STUFF
    • Health and Safety Training
    • SAFETY COURSES
    • Safety Training Needs Analysis and Matrix
    • Top 20 Safety Books
    • This Toaster Is Hot
    • Free Covid-19 Toolbox Talks
    • Download Page – Please Be Patient With Larger Files…….
    • SAFETY IMAGES, Photos, Unsafe Pictures and Funny Fails
    • How to Calculate TRIFR, LTIFR and Other Health and Safety Indicators
    • Download Safety Moments from Human Resources Secretariat
  • Social Psychology Of Risk
    • What is Psychological Health and Safety at Work?
    • Safety Psychology Terminology
    • Some Basics on Social Psychology & Risk
    • Understanding The Social Psychology of Risk – Prof Karl E. Weick
    • The Psychology of Leadership in Risk
    • Conducting a Psychology and Culture Safety Walk
    • The Psychology of Conversion – 20 Tips to get Started
    • Understanding The Social Psychology of Risk And Safety
    • Psychology and safety
    • The Psychology of Safety
    • Hot Toaster
    • TALKING RISK VIDEOS
    • WHAT IS SAFETY
    • THE HOT TOASTER
    • THE ZERO HARM DEBATE
    • SEMIOTICS
    • LEADERSHIP
  • Dr Long Posts
    • ALL POSTS
    • Learning Styles Matter
    • There is no Hierarchy of Controls
    • Scaffolding, Readiness and ZPD in Learning
    • What Can Safety Learn From Playschool?
    • Presentation Tips for Safety People
    • Dialogue Do’s and Don’ts
    • It’s Only a Symbol
    • Ten Cautions About Safety Checklists
    • Zero is Unethical
    • First Report on Zero Survey
    • There is No Objectivity, Deal With it!
  • THEMES
    • Risk Myths
    • Safety Myths
    • Safety Culture Silences
    • Safety Culture
    • Psychological Health and Safety
    • Zero Harm
    • Due Diligence
  • Free Learning
    • Introduction to SPoR – Free
    • FREE RISK and SAFETY EBOOKS
    • FREE ebook – Guidance for the beginning OHS professional
    • Free EBook – Effective Safety Management Systems
    • Free EBook – Lessons I Have Learnt
  • Psychosocial Safety
    • What is Psychosocial Safety
    • Psychological Safety
      • What is Psychological Health and Safety at Work?
      • Managing psychosocial hazards at work
      • Psychological Safety – has it become the next Maslow’s hammer?
      • What is Psychosocial Safety
      • Psychological Safety Slogans and Quotes
      • What is Psychological Safety?
      • Understanding Psychological Terminology
      • Psycho-Social and Socio-Psychological, What’s the Difference?
      • Build a Psychologically Safe Workplace by Taking Risks and Analysing Failures
      • It’s not weird – it’s a psychological safety initiative!
You are here: Home / Robert Long / Lemmings for Lemmings in Leadership and Risk

Lemmings for Lemmings in Leadership and Risk

May 1, 2016 by Dr Rob Long 15 Comments

 

The “Dancing Guy” video is a staple inclusion in many leadership training sessions and hailed by many as a great example of how easily ‘leaders’ can create a following .  Dr Rob Long reveals the  truth behind this video and how the dynamic of groupthink and  mindless conformity is not an example of a good leadership model at all! I’ve used and touted this video  many times myself and now I’m just……….embarrassed!

Lemmings for Lemmings in Leadership and Risk

imageThe greatest example of ‘groupthink’ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupthink) I know of, is the delusion of the dancing guy attributed as leadership. This was first projected as leadership at a TED talk in 2010 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V74AxCqOTvg&feature=youtu.be) that currently has 3.5 million views. The clip itself (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GA8z7f7a2Pk) has more than 14 million views. The TED clip and Youtube clip demonstrate just how easy it is with a simple voiceover to seduce people to a false story through framing and priming (https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-framing-and-priming-effect ). Understanding ‘framing’ and ‘priming’ is critical knowledge in the Social Psychology of Risk (https://safetyrisk.net/understanding-the-social-psychology-of-risk-and-safety/ ).

The reality of this video is documented here: (http://christophercatania.com/2010/05/10/sasquatch-festivals-dancing-guy-reveals-his-swarm-starting-secrets/).

Here we learn that the dancing guy (Colin Wynter) is high as a kite on alcohol and magic mushrooms, as he states in his own words:

‘I dunno, it’s just who I am. I learned to let myself be free—yes, drugs and alcohol are a part, and I have no qualms saying that I was drinking liquor and ate some mushrooms … It’s part of festivals for some people, and there is nothing wrong with using hallucinogenic and alcoholic substances if you do so properly. Would I have behaved in the same manner without? It’s pointless to ask a questions like that since I did use them’.

To get a proper perspective of the action, the full video of the dancing guy can be viewed here: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU7dxkIz1Vs&feature=youtu.be)

Here we see him gyrating about in his ‘hallucinogenic’ state making sexual gestures, fondling strangers and a range of behaviours that model the opposite of leadership.

What we learn from this delusional manipulation of thinking (given at TED and on the video) is that framing, priming, mindless conformity and groupthink are powerful devices in social psychology to influence the beliefs and decisions of others. This is not just about the framing, priming, mindless conformity and groupthink at the Sasquatch Music Festival but also the many who believed that this was behavior about leadership and followership, something to emulate and value.

The video demonstrates the need for wisdom, discernment and critical thinking when it comes to how things are framed, primed and attributed at us. If you want to learn more about discerning I write about it in Book Three: Real Risk, Human Discerning and Risk (http://cart.humandymensions.com/?product_cat=books ). Perhaps someone could explain how someone on a frenzy on alcohol and drugs at a music festival is a model of anything good. We certainly wouldn’t want our kids to copy this.

I recently offered criticism of this video online on Linkedin and was told in by a safety person that I was ’presumptious’, ‘stupid’ and should ‘pay attention in class’. You can see the discourse here: (https://www.linkedin.com/nhome/updates?activity=6130640840722309120&goback=&trk=hb_ntf_COMMENTED_ON_UPDATE_YOU_COMMENTED_ON ) Again, a great demonstration of how we have created Safety as dumb down safety, so that wisdom and discernment are in short supply. Without critical thinking and discerning, safety can fall for any snake oil if it is ‘framed’ right and if the receiver lacks the skills in critical thinking. This is how zero is ‘framed’ and received.

In order to make the point about the power of being seduced (uncritically) by the original voice over, I reconstructed a new voiceover on the same video to demonstrate how the power of groupthink and mindless conformity works.

(https://vimeo.com/164799779). Just imagine of you has seen this video first?

Groupthink, Mindless Conformity from Human Dymensions on Vimeo.

If you want to learn about groupthink look here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupthink

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgRoiTWkBHU

Similarly, to learn about the experiments of Solomon Ashe in 1958 here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYIh4MkcfJA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnHeX4OHIqoAshe

Groupthink and social conformity are essential to the Body of Knowledge in the Social Psychology of Risk (https://safetyrisk.net/social-psychology-of-risk-body-of-knowledge-2/). Understanding the dynamic of social conformity and groupthink demonstrates how easy it was to sway the youth of Germany to follow the Nazis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnHeX4OHIqo

Rather than demonstrating anything good, the dancing guy video demonstrates the very opposite.

Following some drug induced gyration at a music festival is not leadership but mindless conformity, lemmings following lemmings. If the risk and safety world need anything more urgently in the WHS curriculum, it is studies to assist the development of critical thinking.

It is important to understand that groupthink and conformity are attached to cognitive dissonance, fundamental attribution error and confirmation bias. These too are studied in the Social Psychology of Risk.

The other thing the video of the dancing guy demonstrates is the trap of attributing validity to anything that goes ‘viral’ or has millions of hits on Youtube. This is the trap of attributing value to the Dumb Ways to Die Campaign, a video by Melbourne Metro to tackle suicide on the rail network (this is why each little animated character attempts suicide).

Of course, hits on the internet don’t demonstrate anything, especially anything ethical. For example, at the time of the release of Dumb Ways to Die (now with 127 million views) was also released Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus nude on a wrecking ball (850 million views). If ethics is defined by hits on the Internet then we are all in trouble. Blind attribution of value to ‘going viral’ is nonsense and lacks discernment, what really matters is what actually happens on the rail network, not some unethical campaign. Similarly, there are dangerous parodies (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJM7TujaoZg) of the campaign that have more than 20 million hits.

One thing that a study of the Social Psychology of Risk gives is a much better understanding of how social arrangements affect individual and group decision making. There is no difference in dynamic between what made made millions believe the dancing guy was a leader than similar numbers believing the Nazis were worth following. The dynamic of groupthink and mindless conformity is the same.

Much what is discussed in this blog is studied in the Introduction to the Social Psychology of Risk Workshop being held on 10-12 May. (http://cart.humandymensions.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Psychology-in-Risk-Conference.pdf ).

So, what is the real message of the dancing guy video? Well, it’s not about leadership, it’s not about a movement and it’s certainly not about followership. This is why Craig and I wrote book four Following-Leading in Risk, A Humanising Dynamic. http://cart.humandymensions.com/?product=following-leading-in-risk

If anything, the video demonstrates that lemmings follow lemmings.

  • Bio
  • Latest Posts
  • More about Rob
Dr Rob Long

Dr Rob Long

Expert in Social Psychology, Principal & Trainer at Human Dymensions
Dr Rob Long

Latest posts by Dr Rob Long (see all)

  • ISO 45003 and What it Cannot Do - February 1, 2023
  • An Advanced Understanding of Culture – A Video - January 31, 2023
  • Risk and Safety Maturity - January 31, 2023
  • The KISS of Death in Safety - January 31, 2023
  • SPoR, Metanoia and a Podcast on Change with Nippin Anand - January 31, 2023
Dr Rob Long
PhD., MEd., MOH., BEd., BTh., Dip T., Dip Min., Cert IV TAA, MRMIA Rob is the founder of Human Dymensions and has extensive experience, qualifications and expertise across a range of sectors including government, education, corporate, industry and community sectors over 30 years. Rob has worked at all levels of the education and training sector including serving on various post graduate executive, post graduate supervision, post graduate course design and implementation programs.

Please share our posts

  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Robert Long, Safety Leadership, Social Psychology of Risk Tagged With: group think, leadership

Reader Interactions

Do you have any thoughts? Please share them below Cancel reply

Primary Sidebar

Search and Discover More on this Site

Never miss a post - Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address and join other discerning risk and safety people who receive notifications of new posts by email

Join 7,498 other subscribers

Introduction to SPOR – FREE!!

Psychosocial Safety and Mental Health Series

ISO 45003 and What it Cannot Do

The KISS of Death in Safety

Behavioural Safety is NOT a Foundation for Tackling Psychosocial and Mental Health

The Worst Approach to Psychosocial Problems is an Attitude of ‘Fixing’

The Language of ‘Hazards’ and Psychosocial, Mental Health

Welcome to the Nightmare, Safety Creates its Own Minefield (as usual)

No Good Reason to Follow Reason

The Moral Harm of the Zero Cult

Toxic Positivity in Safety Doesn’t Help Anyone

Safety, Ethics, SPoR and How to Foster the Abuse of Power

More Posts from this Category

NEW! Free Download

Please take our 2 minute zero survey

Recent Comments

  • Brent Charlton on The KISS of Death in Safety
  • Rob Long on The KISS of Death in Safety
  • Brian Edwin Darlington on The KISS of Death in Safety
  • Brian on The Language of ‘Hazards’ and Psychosocial, Mental Health
  • Jaise on The Language of ‘Hazards’ and Psychosocial, Mental Health
  • Rob Long on Posture Myths and Holistic Ergonomics
  • Linda McKendry on Posture Myths and Holistic Ergonomics
  • Rob long on Welcome to the Nightmare, Safety Creates its Own Minefield (as usual)
  • Matt Thorne on Welcome to the Nightmare, Safety Creates its Own Minefield (as usual)
  • Anonymous on Welcome to the Nightmare, Safety Creates its Own Minefield (as usual)
  • Jason on How Bias Inhibits Learning in Safety
  • Rob Long on How Bias Inhibits Learning in Safety
  • Admin on How Bias Inhibits Learning in Safety
  • Rob Long on 400,000 Free Downloads
  • Gustavo Saralegui on 400,000 Free Downloads
  • Rob long on To Err is Human, You Better Believe It
  • Wynand on To Err is Human, You Better Believe It
  • Rob Long on To Err is Human, You Better Believe It
  • simon cassin on To Err is Human, You Better Believe It
  • Rob Long on Records of safety activities: evidence of safety or non-compliance?

FREE eBOOK DOWNLOADS

Footer

VIRAL POST – The Risk Matrix Myth

Top Posts & Pages. Sad that most are so dumb but this is what safety luves

  • 500 OF THE BEST AND WORST WORKPLACE HEALTH and SAFETY SLOGANS 2023
  • Free Safety Moments and Toolbox Talk Examples, Tips and Resources
  • Road Safety Slogans 2023
  • CATCHY and FUNNY SAFETY SLOGANS FOR THE WORKPLACE
  • The KISS of Death in Safety
  • Download Safety Moments from Human Resources Secretariat
  • NATIONAL SAFETY DAY/WEEK IN INDIA 2023
  • 15 Safety Precautions When Working With Electricity
  • FREE RISK ASSESSMENT FORMS, CHECKISTS, REGISTERS, TEMPLATES and APPS
  • The Language of ‘Hazards’ and Psychosocial, Mental Health

Recent Posts

  • ISO 45003 and What it Cannot Do
  • An Advanced Understanding of Culture – A Video
  • Risk and Safety Maturity
  • The KISS of Death in Safety
  • SPoR, Metanoia and a Podcast on Change with Nippin Anand
  • Behavioural Safety is NOT a Foundation for Tackling Psychosocial and Mental Health
  • The Worst Approach to Psychosocial Problems is an Attitude of ‘Fixing’
  • SPoR Comes to Vienna June 2023
  • The Language of ‘Hazards’ and Psychosocial, Mental Health
  • Welcome to the Nightmare, Safety Creates its Own Minefield (as usual)
  • The Visionary Imagination – Louisa Lawson
  • Heaven ‘n Hell and the Safety Religion
  • Confirmity in Conformity
  • Numerology and Psychic Numbing
  • Thinking of Mortality
  • Safety is the Wrong Anchor
  • Foresight Blindness, Hindsight Bias and Risk
  • Getting the Balance Right in Tackling Risk
  • What is SPoR?
  • How Bias Inhibits Learning in Safety
  • Afraid to Let Go of What Doesn’t Work in Safety
  • When You Don’t Know What to do in Safety, Have Another Blitz!!!
  • Gloves and Glasses Compliance
  • A Case of Desensitisation – What Would You Do?
  • How to Leave the Safety Industry
  • The Mythic Symbology of Safety
  • Dark Waters, The True Story of DuPont and Zero
  • 400,000 Free Downloads
  • Am I stupid? I didn’t think of that…
  • Don’t Look Now Safety, Your Metaphor is Showing
  • Ratio Delusions and Heinrich’s Hoax
  • To Err is Human, You Better Believe It
  • Culture as a Wicked Problem, for Safety
  • Safety Leadership Training
  • Cultural Orientation in Risk
  • The Stanford Experiment and The Social Psychology of Risk
  • Objectivity, Audits and Attribution When Calculating Risk
  • Records of safety activities: evidence of safety or non-compliance?
  • Zero, The Seeking of Infinity
  • Safety Leadership Essentials
  • What Can Indiana Jones Tell Us About Culture
  • Safety as a Worldview
  • The Loathing of Limits
  • Culture Cannot be Framed Through Safety
  • Free Online Workshops
  • Safety Culture–Hudson’s Model
  • Book Launch – For the Love of Zero – in Portuguese
  • Advancing Backwards in Safety
  • The ‘Noise’ of Safety, Silence and Practicing of Mindfulness
  • All Things Must Pass in Risk

VIRAL POST!!! HOW TO QUIT THE SAFETY INDUSTRY

FEATURED POSTS

The Curse of Cognitivism

Regulation Madness

Numerology and Psychic Numbing

Flooding is Dangerous, and I don’t Mean the Water….

Four Indicators of Toxic Safety Culture

SPoR Comes to Vienna June 2023

Tape Down Those Leads

Report on SPoR Convention 2018

Keep Discovering

The Myth of Fast and Slow Thinking

Zero as Morally Wicked

The Stanford Experiment and The Social Psychology of Risk

SPoR Quarterly Newsletter September 2021

Is Safetyism Destroying a Generation?

Understanding The Social Psychology of Risk – Prof Karl E. Weick

Zero Vision but Purchase Insurance

Sergeant Safety

You Can’t Will Attentiveness

Holistic Well Being in Risk Differently

The Safety Charade as Tokenism in Safety

What is Critical Listening when Dealing with Risk?

The New Leadership – Risk and Safety

I’m just not that into safety anymore

Zero Discourse as Gobbledygook

The Attraction of Simple and Easy in Safety

The Different Levels of Wrongness!

You Don’t Want a Compliance Culture

The Measurement Mindset in Safety???

Safety for Luddites

Freedom in Necessity

Post Graduate Safety Potato Heads

Sense-Making and Decision-Making in Risk

Managing Risk Rather Than Striving for Absolute Safety

It’s Always About Paperwork

None so Blind as Those That Don’t Want to See – Due Diligence

When Slogans Don’t Work

What If I Valued People And Not Safety?

Holistic Responses to Mental Health

10 Reasons Why Safety Can Never Make You Happy

How was your break?

More Posts from this Category

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address and join other discerning risk and safety people who receive notifications of new posts by email

Join 7,498 other subscribers

How we pay for the high cost of running of this site – try it for free on your site

WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY?

What is Psychological Safety at Work?


WHAT IS PSYCHOSOCIAL SAFETY