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The religious evangelism of mine safety - a new metaphor
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:
- "we need to believe in Safety"
- "we need to have faith in our people and systems"
- "we need to convert the unconverted ... the infidels"
- "the fact that industry, government & unions are working together is a miracle"
- "we must move from being firemen & policemen to being missionaries"
- "today we are preaching to the converted"
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.
Mine safety - narrative research with Deloitte
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!
