How Leadership jargon turned into a bunch of meaningless buzzwords
Three months ago I was invited to speak in the 11th Annual “HSE Excellence Europe” conference in Amsterdam. Besides delivering a presentation, I was asked to take part in a couple of panel discussions. So there I am, on the stage with three or four other experts, having a friendly chat moderated by Professor Andrew Sharman in front of quite a large crowd of top HSE professionals.
I don’t remember what exactly the topic at hand was, but at some point I engaged in a fervent explanation of the importance of Leadership in Occupational Safety. If you know me you know I would, especially with Andrew Sharman, who is arguably one of the world’s best advocates of Safety Leadership.
And then Andrew, with a very malicious smile in his face, answered my tirade with a “C’mon, you’re not giving us the Leadership bullshit, are you?”
After a second of utter astonishment I joined the crowd’s laughing, and we moved on. Later in the evening Andrew and I joked at the bar about his “Dilbert-style” boutade.
Why was it so funny? Well, like in Scott Adams’ comic strips, there was some sort of truth in it. Sadly enough, concepts as important for us in the Safety world as engagement, culture, values… have become buzzwords like KPI, disruption, customer-centric etc.
How did this happen? The same way every buzzword becomes a buzzword. It all starts with a powerful and rather innovative concept imagined by a smart person or group of people. If the idea is really good, other smart people working in the same field will pick it up and elaborate on it. So far so good.
The problems start when this brilliant concept reaches what we could call “the general public” i.e. people not so familiar with this particular area of expertise, but who will nevertheless feel appealed by the idea. A few will dive into the research beneath it, reading everything they can find on the topic, getting educated and confronting the theory with their own experiences, so eventually they get to fully understand its uses and limits. Most people will at best google the thing for a basic summary they can swallow in less than 2 minutes.
Et voilà! Now you have a horde talking about things they do not really understand and applying concepts to contexts they do not belong to. They may be full of good intentions or just pretending to be in the know, the result is the same: the great original idea is corrupted down the bullshit food chain, until it becomes just a joke.
I already wrote a post last year on how important it is for us Safety practitioners to prevent Safety Leadership from becoming laughing stock: it takes visible commitment from every stakeholder. Did that just sound to you like another string of buzzwords? Dammit, this really starts resembling a Dilbert story…
HSE Culture Specialist: Helping Businesses Identify, Connect & Engage with Safety Leadership and Culture
6 年Mindfulness. The word’s has gained increasing currency when we discuss mental health wellbeing, but it’s also a word that conjures up images of meditation circles & chanting. Mindfulness (in the books I have read) is half-baked but a lot of health and safety obligations are about getting down to the basics – Towards a mindful H&S Culture When we talk about mindfulness in health and safety, we’re looking at a way of developing an environment where employers and workers alike are continually conscious and aware of those factors that could cause injury or harm. It’s not news that developing an organisational culture in the workplace where health and safety is seen as “everyone’s responsibility” is more important than just having a set of rules workforce are ordered to follow. On a day to day basis, mindfulness in the workplace involves workforce actively considering risks, priorities and next steps as they are performing their current tasks. Far from zoning out and being at one with the universe, it’s exactly what most employers would want their workers to be doing! Sensitivity to operations means that workers (even at a low level) are encouraged to report things and speak up. And it means that senior managers and employers need to remain as aware as possible of the current state of their wards, shop floors, or sites. ? Preoccupation with failure; ? Sensitivity to operations; and ? ‘What businesses count on’, a series of statements designed to assess overall mindfulness.
Change Management | Sustainability Facilitator| Small Business Mentor| Third Culture Citizen
7 年Erdem Erciyes
Group HSSE Director | Professor | Author
7 年The smart concepts that knowledgeable people (i.e. educated and/or experienced) use become buzzwords when not so knowledgeable people adopt them in a attempt to look smart.
Experienced WHSEQ Management | Safety Professional | ISO Certification | OFSC Accreditation | Workplace Safety Advocate
7 年David Smulders
Group HSSE Director | Professor | Author
7 年Hi Xavier, I love your suggestion of involving HR in this, then it will really be a Dilbert comic strip. Seriously, of course they should be as involved as everybody else. What are the ideas that I propose? Please check the link that I enclosed in the article -- I paste it here: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/safety-bluff-eduardo-blanco-munoz