Embracing Differences

What do you do when someone gets injured at work? Do you think about the paperwork that should follow or do you genuinely care about attending to the needs of the person who is hurt? In this episode, Dr Robert Long, an internationally renowned social psychologist takes us on an intellectual journey to understand the importance of Care ethics in safety and risk. At the core of Care Ethics is the morality of personhood, community, care and helping. Dr Long warns us that the safety industry is known for its ideology of zero which locks it into counting, mechanics, regulation and policing, all common to a Masculinist Ethic. As such, it loses out on attending to the most basic human need for care and compassion.

In an insightful conversation, Amy Edmondson, Novartis Professor of Leadership at Harvard Business School, examines the complexities of psychological safety in the workplace. She challenges the simplistic narrative that fear of abusive bosses is the main reason employees stay silent. Amy delves into issues of trust and competence, using case studies like the Costa Concordia disaster to illustrate how systemic problems and hierarchical structures hinder open communication. Her perspective reveals the deeper reasons behind worker silence, emphasizing the need for an environment that fosters transparency and learning.

In this podcast, I am joined by Nick Little, Head of School from the International School of Aberdeen. Together we explore what it means to create a learning organisation by drawing upon the example of schools. On the face of it, it should be obvious that schools are a learning organisation but as we delve deep into the topic, we will find out that this is not always the case. Part of the problem, as we discuss in this podcast, is the way in which staff performance is understood and measured in the schools which in turn undermines the ethos of learning and learning organisations. How do we change that? Find out more in this podcast.

What does it take for a mega-size container ship to pass through the Suez Canal? This podcast draws upon the story of a ship captain to understand the everyday challenges of navigating a ship and negotiating one of the busiest waterways in the world. And it is in the banality of these everyday experiences that we may find some meaningful answers and perhaps better questions that could draw us closer to making any meaningful sense of accidents at sea.  

Listeners may recall a recent podcast with Professor Andrew Hopkins where we discussed the role of organisational structure in creating a culture. In this week’s podcast, we take this concept one step further with Gilsa Monteiro, a process safety specialist in one of the leading Oil and Energy companies in the world and a PhD student who understudied Professor Andrew Hopkins.

In this podcast, I speak with Cindi Nandlal, a close friend who serves as an HSE manager in a reputed organization in Trinidad and Tobago. Cindi shares her unique position as a senior HSE manager who is also appointed as a board member on three different boards. As I listened to her, I realized how much she has transformed from being who she was at the start of her career (a very 'black and white' person in her own words) to becoming an influential and successful leader. In every experience she narrates in this podcast, I observed an immense sense of self-reflection, empathy and humility – the traits of leadership. What struck me most was her sensitivity to the business context (including the use of language) and the need for business leaders to understand how the organization operates at different levels before attempting to influence change. It reminds me of a beautiful quote from Stephen Covey – 'seek first to understand, then to be understood'.

This is the second in a series of two podcasts with Rosa Carrillo. In this podcast, Rosa and I discuss the importance of psychological safety for leaders. Once again, we reflect upon our personal experiences and discuss the importance of having open conversations to create psychological safety in the workplace. 

This is the first in a two-part series of conversations between Rosa Carrillo and Nippin Anand. During their interaction, Nippin and Rosa experience the power of deep listening - an important but often neglected aspect of psychological safety.

The podcast explores the purpose and needs of accident investigations, suggesting novel strategies for improvement. It discusses the role of storytelling and diverse perspectives in investigations, as well as the concept of 'ritual' in coping with disaster. The host reflects on the conflict between fact-finding and prevention, and encourages listeners to share and access additional resources.

In this podcast, Gitte Damm (an aviation pilot and a CRM instructor) and I discuss the role of soft skills in safety-critical jobs. Based on years of research and experience in the maritime and aviation sector, we argue that soft skills are being designed and marketed as a replacement for experiential knowledge and skills which makes it problematic to achieve the intended purpose of CRM.