One day Safety may discover that language, metaphor and semiotics are critical for communication and messaging. The latest nonsense from Safety confirms that it has no idea what safety is about. We’ve seen this before from other traditional safety sources such as so called ‘safety … [Read more...] about No Place for Military Metaphors in Safety
Robert Long
The Influence of C.G. Jung in SPoR
One is not likely to read the works of C.G. Jung or consider such works as relevant if one is committed to the dominant paradigm of risk and safety – Behaviourism & Positivism. Similarly, if one has a worldview anchored to Scientism and Engineering one is not likely to give any metaphysical view … [Read more...] about The Influence of C.G. Jung in SPoR
Sacrificing Truth for No Blame
One of the by-products of the positive psychology cult is: the massaging of truth, the creation of false narratives, linguistic spin and ethical gymnastics. Whilst there is nothing wrong with positive psychology in itself its evolution as a reaction against perceived negative analysis such as: … [Read more...] about Sacrificing Truth for No Blame
The Danger of Bad Safety Slogans in Traditional Safety
We know that silly slogans mislead people and create single statements that are not true. Such linguistics limit the way we think about risk and promote simplistic thinking when the truth is, risk is a wicked problem. (Our next module on Linguistics and Risk starts tomorrow). The trouble is, … [Read more...] about The Danger of Bad Safety Slogans in Traditional Safety
The Blame Game of HOP
The HOP club seem to think that reality can be reshaped by a collection of slogans and memes. One of the classics is the slogan ‘blame fixes nothing’. Of course, the reality is that blame fixes things, this is the foundation of the justice system. The court decides where the blame lies and what … [Read more...] about The Blame Game of HOP
Absolute Error Prevention
Absolute Error Prevention Safety is so easy, it’s all about error prevention. Safety is so simple, it’s all about risk aversion. Whilst both of these statements appear to be true, both are wrong. Safety is not simple and is not just about error prevention or risk aversion. Indeed, binary thinking … [Read more...] about Absolute Error Prevention
Following Rules That Don’t Make Sense
One of the strange trade-offs of busyness in large organisations is the exponential growth of rules. It’s a bit like how software companies send out patches on patches until the software is so large and unworkable, no-one uses it. I was consulting to a Tier One organisation once that paid a … [Read more...] about Following Rules That Don’t Make Sense
I Think Therefore I Write – Study Module
The latest module on offer in the Social Psychology of Risk is Module 20: Writing and Thinking in Risk. This module brings together knowledge in Linguistics, Poetics, Semiotics and Critical Thinking with a focus on writing and articulating ideas about risk. You can read more about the module … [Read more...] about I Think Therefore I Write – Study Module
Is Safety Narcissistic?
I read with interest the article Potential for More from SHP and it’s so much about what Safety does, is look at itself. It reminds me of Narcissus, the Greek myth of the man who falls in love with his own image: It seems whenever Safety wants to know something, it looks at itself. So much … [Read more...] about Is Safety Narcissistic?
Frames of Mind and How the Mind Frames Risk
All language is interpreted according to a multitude of factors: culture, context, intent, grammar and orientation. This is why one can look up a word in a dictionary and it can have many meanings. For example, just look up the meaning of the word ‘frame’ … [Read more...] about Frames of Mind and How the Mind Frames Risk
