Terminator, Bladerunner, Bicentennial Man, Ex-Machina, any of the Transformer’s movies.  Buzz Lightyear, C3-PO, R2D2, WALL-E, Chappie, Finch, her… Sci-fi has always had us on the hook.

Consider the highest-grossing movies of all time: 4 of the top 5 are sci-fi (and 3 of those spots go to Star Wars and Avatar movies, between them grossing over 7.3 billion dollars.). It’s clear: we love robots.

By end of 2023 there will be an estimated 7.58 connected devices per person, so that’s over 60 billion devices – we’re becoming much more comfortable with complex tech.

The cost of sequencing a human genome fell from $2.7b in 2003 to just $600 today – so we understand how to build a human more quickly and cheaply.  As a perfect example have a look at this short video clip from one of the business schools, the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), and meet Leonardo – the skateboarding, slacklining, flying robot.

According to the World Economic Forum, there’s 3.4 million industrial robots in daily operation around the world, and 1.7 million more will be installed in workplaces by 2025, leading to around 100 million jobs being replaced by robots in the same period.

Elon Musk believes Artificial Intelligence is “one of the biggest risks to the future of civilization”, a point earlier suggested by Stephen Hawking who said that “A.I. could cause the worst event in the history of humankind.”

[1] CISCO Internet Solutions, 2023.

[2] See www.genome.gov.

The robots are coming.

And we need to be ready.

Back to the Future

Last week, in Frankfurt, Reggie Minto running a workshop for a client, he shared the above data points and asked 180 OSH leaders from around the world what we need to do.  Their answers had a clear central theme: we need to be more human.

We need to focus on feelings: trust, respect, and collaboration.  Over the next 6 hours I observed some of the most impressive collaboration I’ve seen for a while, why we collaborate – and why it’s so valuable.

Over the next few months, I’ll share some of the most critical, high-impact skills and attributes that really drive a step-change in organizational culture and performance. I can’t think of a better place to start than with collaboration.

Here’s why:

Collaboration creates trust.  Collaboration, in essence, means creating something with other people.  Being open to (and listening to) others’ ideas and sharing our own, working together around a common goal, and asking for help from those around us all build trust. Think about it: we are trusted because of our way of being.

Collaboration builds understanding. Whether we know someone for years or have just met, collaboration helps us learn new things, gain deeper meaning and see previously invisible connections.

Collaboration helps us think bigger and better. The cool thing about collaboration is that we don’t need to know everything. Each person has their own skills and perspectives to add to the mix.

Collaboration turns individuals into teams. When people come together and work as one, workflows become smoother, tasks are achieved quicker, productivity is improved, and healthy relationships are formed.

Here’s 4 ideas to boost collaboration in your workplace:

1. Roll up your sleeves. Instead of just asking workers to explain what they do, why not get involved and work alongside them for a while? Use curiosity to really understand what the risks, highs and lows of the job are. Visible Felt Leadership at its best (and simplest!)
2. Positive Pick-ups. Every human being likes to be told they’re doing a good job.  In safety though, it’s easier to point out bad (unsafe) behaviours or failures to follow rules. Every day this week pick up on at least one positive behaviour and let the person know you appreciate it.
3. Cross-pollinate. Working with the same teams every day can become routine and slow innovation.Invite a small group from another department or function to bring they’re eyes and spot opportunities to improve safety
4. Add Values. Liberté, égalité, fraternité – the national motto of France – came about during the French revolution as an expression of the common values of the people. Whilst most organizations will have a set of corporate values, why not ask your team to come up with a motto – 3 words that express the 3 most important values you share as a team.

Hungry for more?  Here’s 3 great opportunities for collaboration coming your way:

1. Learn Lots, Help Others. Just Twenty Quid.

To mark the United Nations World Day for Safety & Health at Work (28 April) the team at the One Percent Safer Foundation are staging a full week of events as part of their Live & Direct Summit.  Between 24-28 April some of the world’s leading thinkers on workplace safety, health, and culture – including Prof Andrew Hopkins, Dr E. Scott Geller, Rosa Antonia Carrillo, Dr. Bill Pomfret and more – will share ideas and insights to making the world of work a better, healthier, safer place for everyone. Tickets for this week-long virtual extravaganza are just £20 (or £50 to include a copy of the amazing book, with all proceeds to the One Percent Safer Foundation charity) and includes all sessions plus access to the video replays.

2. Build Meaningful Conversations.

Often when leaders try to engage workers on safety, they fall into the trap of asking useless questions (like “is everything safe?” or “Any safety issues?”). The Creating Safety Conversations Card Deck provides over 160 meaningful questions across 10 themes of safety culture (including: Mindset, Behaviour, Recognition, Performance, Risk, and more) and is the perfect tool for Safety Leadership Visits or GEMBA Walks or running a Safety Moment in team meetings.  Available in 20 different languages, get your set here.

3. Collaborate with the Best.

The EHS Congress is Europe’s most highly rated event for leading-edge thinking, provocative discussion, and networking with more than 250 of the brightest minds working in safety, health, and environment together in a massive show of breakout sessions, panel discussions, awesome networking, and unique presentations, (check the latest agenda: 2023 EHS Congress). Bruno Overkeen, Global Director of OSH at Danone says: “EHS Congress was as insightful as a training, as resourceful as a retreat, as fun as a fair, as challenging as a deep dive, as warm as a family gathering.”

The excitement is through the roof (have you seen some of the speaker’s posts?) and we’re already past 170 people booked to attend – with the room limit capped at 250 seats – so most likely we need to close registration somewhere in the next few weeks.

So here is my offer to you: a one-time 50% discount off the registration fee as part of my personal invitation as I’d really love to show you all the cool stuff that’s happening as we explore the future of workplace safety & health.  To take advantage just head to https://ehscongress.com/register/ and apply coupon code “RMS” at checkout.  Please don’t wait too long as I was told a maximum of 10 delegates could enjoy this offer (please note the regular delegate fee starts at €950 so this is really an exclusive offer to attend on my behalf).

In life, in love, at work, and at play, we flourish when we work together.

We thrive in pairs, partnerships, teams, and communities. Leaders are never alone: without followers, they’re nothing.

Now, more than ever, real leadership is about collaboration – bringing people together, creating space for everyone to give their best.  The robots may well be coming, but until then, we’ve got each other,

Go well, stay safe, take care of yourself, and each other.

Bio:

Dr. Bill Pomfret of Safety Projects International Inc who has a training platform, said, “It’s important to clarify that deskless workers aren’t after any old training. Summoning teams to a white-walled room to digest endless slides no longer cuts it. Mobile learning is quickly becoming the most accessible way to get training out to those in the field or working remotely. For training to be a successful retention and recruitment tool, it needs to be an experience learner will enjoy and be in sync with today’s digital habits.”

Every relationship is a social contract between one or more people.  Each person is responsible for the functioning of the team.  In our society, the onus is on the leader.  It is time that employees learnt to be responsible for their actions or inaction, as well.  And this takes a leader to encourage them to work and behave at a higher level.