A chessboard with monochromatic pieces. What a superb metaphor!

The way organizations approach occupational safety management is very similar to the game of chess. Chess is a game defined by rules, with a rigid structure that results in winning or loss.

Organizations play a similar game: limited resources, clearly defined objectives and roles, rules and structure, players lose or win, hierarchy, limits, need for certainty, competition between participants.

Metaphor is the description of something by something other than it is. Here’s a challenge for you!

Look at the image above and doing an exercise of imagination let’s answer the following question: what happens when the rules disappear?

When I use metaphors in the safety workshops, I notice the surprise on the faces of the participants but also the fact that they manage to open conversations that lead to new approaches.

Imagine Safety as a game that takes place on a whiteboard, with white pieces, whose purpose is beyond rules and compliance: it is the well-being of the participants.

You build a new reality, one in which the traditional black vs. white conflict disappears, and in which the lack of hierarchies and the impossibility of applying approaches force the participants to be truly present.

The metaphor of the chessboard with monochromatic pieces opens your mind to a new perception of the world. It is the opportunity for a different game that is no longer about You or Me, but about Us.

It is a new game, in which the tensions generated by functional differences and hierarchical status dissolve and the competition between operational and QHSE turns into a collaborative experience, in which conversation and trust are essential.

When the game no longer begins with the intention of domination, the chessboard becomes the ideal ground for collaboration and dialogue.

The metaphor created by Yoko Ono helps us to notice the differences between the rigid game of safety at work and the one at home, in the family.

Although in both situations it is our safety and that of those around us that matters, at work we play the rigid game of rules, supervision, and compliance while at home it is about dialogue, listening and helping, about empathy and learning.

What if at their job the players put the rules and safety performance indicators on the back burner and focused on the things that matter but cannot be measured – care, love, trust?

They could choose to follow the standard rules or create a new way of playing together – for example, all the pieces being available to both players from the start.

The new approach creates opportunities for conversation, collaboration, and the possibility of developing new strategies to address risk.

What do you want to add?

By putting a known problem in a new light, metaphors cause people to rethink their opinions or assumptions and provide them with a useful mental framework for developing new approaches.

When we need to change outdated and widely shared mindsets, the right metaphor can make the difference.

This is why Social Risk Psychology (SPoR) is concerned with understanding culture, studying semiotics, and using metaphors.

If you are interested in SPoR, here you can find more information https://www.corporatedynamics.ro/psihologia-socială-a-riscului-spor/. You can contact us at decebalm@corporatedynamics.ro.