mine safety

We do so much work in the mine safety arena, that I couldn't help but chuckle at the truth that Jeremy Nell has uncovered in this recent cartoon:

Our mining safety research collaboration with Deloitte has been profiled on Mining Weekly. Feel free to read/comment/distribute it. Read it here.

Most traditional companies are quite intentional about choosing their mission, often settling on a well-crafted statement that sets market domination and excellence as their target. Sonja and I have been less intentional, and have rather let our mission emerge over the last 12 months - emergence is a key factor in managing complexity after all :)

What is our mission then?

It's not market domination, nor is it service excellence ... while those are important factors of our business. Rather, our mission is two-fold:

1. Changing the mindsets around the perceived value of water, and
2. Transforming the culture of safety on mines

These have emerged out of numerous client engagements in the water and mine safety arenas. Through gathering stories of water management and mine safety incidents, we have become convinced that part of our calling (if you like) is to use our narrative techniques to assist in changing mindsets and transforming the culture associated with water usage and mine safety.

The case for improved mine safety is a well known one in South Africa, and globally. However, we believe that the case for improved water usage and management in South Africa is less understood. In fact, we are of the opinion that South Africa is on the verge of a water crisis. If our sense of the early warning signals (mainly seen through the stories we have gathered from companies, government, research institutions and society) is correct, we believe that the average South African needs to better understand the true value and cost of water.

The predominant mindset is that water is cheap and of low value - it is a resource that is "on tap" ... I open my tap and water comes out of it. Simple as that. The reality is that potable (drinking) water is more scarce than we'd like to believe, and hence, the value of water is much higher than most would admit.

Here's one story to support this argument ...

In our recent research collaboration with Deloitte into the state of mine safety (available here) we exposed a metaphor that was prevalent in the industry: that of policing. That is, almost the entire industry is being governed by the dynamics associated with policing behaviour, risk, attitudes and impact.

While attending a seminar today, where we presented the results of our recent study, Sonja and I uncovered another prevalent metaphor: that of religious evangelism. We noticed how almost every presentation or comment was saturated with evangelical religious undertones and metaphors, of which the speakers were largely unaware. They would say things like:

Now, it is a natural human tendency to use metaphors when explaining concepts, but it is another thing using a metaphor because it emerges as a representation of values and drivers behind a pattern of behaving and acting in relation to a problem.

Towards the end of 2008 we partnered with Deloitte Consulting on a research project aimed at the field of mine safety. We are painfully aware of how mine safety needs to improve, especially within the South African deep level mining context. Nicolaas Herholdt approached us to partner with him in developing a Point of View that uncovers new and important insights into mine safety that might assist in addressing the way in which safety statistics have plateaued.

The reality is that despite all the focus and attention the media and companies are giving to mine safety, deaths still occur - the improvements have stagnated - and it is clear that we are missing out on something.

We used our narrative research approach and applied the Cynefin Sense-Making Framework to make sense of the results. In general, the research identifies a clear gap between the current initiatives in place and the nature of the problems we are facing. 

Feel free to download the Point of View below or by clicking here. Read, it, discuss it, share it and then contact us for more information.

Kudos to Rob Hooper for some awesome depictions of stories gathered in the process!