My friend, Ed Schein, RIP.

I'm sitting here wondering how to start. So I'll just start...

Edgar Schein was my hero. It would've been his 95th birthday today.

It's odd to sit here on a Sunday evening, feeling so sad, and yet weirdly sort-of-happy at the same time. Professor Doctor Edgar Schein passed away on the evening of 26th January, after a busy day at work with his son Peter Schein. He was almost 95.

For almost 30 years (my entire career) I've been closely following the work of Edgar Schein - the 'Godfather of Organizational Culture'. I've devoured his ideas, scoured his theories to apply them as diligently as possible, and waited desperately for his next new book.

I've dedicated several of my books to him - the man, the thinker, the architect of ideas - and yet when we first met, many years ago, in a restaurant of his choosing, somewhere miles away from San Francisco, as he walked into the place he immediately said: "Dr Sharman, I've been following your work and I am excited to learn from you, I have so many questions for you". (And he did! An evening spent over dinner, peppered by questions from this man, THAT man, seemingly desperate to understand MY work. It was hard to get my head around.)

That was then.

Years go by.

In the years that passed we'd discussed challenges to creating great workplace #culture, the real issues with #leadership, shared his thinking with HUGE audiences in conferences and congresses around the world, imagined a world where #climatechange had been resolved, and even sketched out and outlined a book together. Each action way beyond my widest dreams (who could imagine regularly chatting with, let alone writing a book with their hero???!!!)

And then, in 2020, the midst of the pandemic, I had this insane idea to create a book of ideas that might help make the world a better, safer, healthier place. My first email was to my friend Ed. Asking him to write 500 words for a chapter (in what is now the One Percent Safer book). I sent the email and went to bed. In the morning his chapter was there. Written. Done. And sent with "the very best of wishes". That's Ed Schein.

Since then, Ed blasted my email Inbox almost weekly: a paper for this – appreciating your comments.??A keynote for that - what do you think? An urgency to understand why the #OSH profession seem to ignore #climatechange. A deeply-bound question on why the leaders-of-today have forgotten about the people-that-do-the-work…?

Five weeks and 2 days ago Ed's son?Peter Schein?wrote me to tell me Ed had passed away. It's weird how I knew it was coming yet didn't want to believe it ever would. Peter told me about how Ed had spent the day working (as usual!) and then drifted off, surely content with his work. And then Peter made me cry. Not a tear, but a flood. Here's what he told me:

"Ed was so taken by your enthusiasm and passion for the topic he cared so deeply about — the intersection of organizational behavior and safety.?Thank you for being such an ardent supporter of his, for pushing him to new ways of thinking, and for getting projects into the queue.?This engagement and commitment was what kept him going until the very end."

Ed’s been in my thoughts every single day since then.

At almost 10pm on this Sunday evening I sit in my study, with tears streaming down my face, raising a glass of good Scotch to my friend Ed Schein, wishing you hadn't left us yet, Ed, knowing how much the world could use your wisdom right now.

Here's to you, Ed, with love, admiration, more gratitude than I can say, and loyal friendship, for ever. x