This is one of the most bizarre and interesting experiments I’ve ever done. Come on, get comfortable, and I’ll fill you in.
Hey, it’s Andrew. And this is safety on tap. Since you’re listening in, you must be a leader wanting to grow yourself, and drastically improved health and safety along the line. Welcome to you in the right place. If this is your first time listening in, thanks for joining us, and well done for trying something different to improve. And of course, welcome back to all of you wonderful, regular listeners.
So you regular listeners will know by now that there’s a familiar rhythm and format to the safety on tap podcast. But I don’t mind breaking the pattern every now and again. I do episodes with interviews, one guest, and we have a conversation. I had a play with that in Episode 106. When for the first time I had two guests along for a live conversation with Campbell and John. I do episodes with just me. Solo. Which a reflection a story or a challenge for you. Sometimes it’s a video, sometimes it’s just audio. And sometimes it’s captured from a live event I’ve done.
I’ve started creating episodes, which are live coaching conversations. So you get a glimpse of coaching interaction in less than an hour with a real-life person like you making meaningful progress with a real-life goal or challenge. And I’ve invited but haven’t quite delivered on case study podcasts where I want to give you the microphone to share whatever you think will help other listeners and I get out of the way. And that’s a work in progress.
And then there’s this episode, this one was really far more left field as an idea which when I suggested it to my guest today, he jumped at my guest is Ron Gant, who some of you will know as the editor of the safetydifferently.com blog. This all started with a post, which Ron put on LinkedIn.
This is what the Post said:
What makes having a meaningful constructive conversation between people who disagree with one another hard on this website?
This created a lot of engagement with comments posted by lots of other people. I loved the question. Instead of Ron making a statement. I love that it was stimulating dialogue, which you’ll know is one of the many powerful tools available to us when we engage in social and experiential learning and not just information consumption. And it got me thinking, what if Ron and I created our own reflection on this question, share them with each other. And then we had a live conversation. He brings together run social media post about social media, out of that context and into real life dialogue for you to listen in on which was, which was both asynchronous, sharing each other’s reflections, and then synchronous doing it together. It might be crazy, this idea, but I think it was fantastic. Not least of which, because of the light bulb idea that we had right at the end. So here is Ron’s solo reflection, followed by my solo reflection, and then our meaning-making conversation afterward. Take a listen.
Would you be interested in taking online conversations offline? Ron and I thought this was a great idea to try, as a professional development practice, a habit, and we would like to help stimulate this as an experiment if you want to be part of it. I’ll tell you about that in just a second.
Thanks for the four-star iTunes review from Tom, who began with saying great guests, and mostly excellent information and food for thought. Tom then went on in quite some detail about some things that aren’t great and need attention, which was both long and helpful. In summary, Tom suggested I study some great interviewers and learn to not interject, to ask shorter questions without 4 statements before the question, and to equalise the sound because it’s a bit loud sometimes listening through headphones. Well, that’s pretty direct, and really helpful feedback. Tom, you’ll be pleased to know I am working on all of those things, including audio mastering future episodes and the entire back catalogue of podcast episodes. The other stuff, well that’s a reflection of my learning journey. Thanks for the review Tom, I encourage you to write me a review because feedback is a critical part of how I can deliver better value for you.
In the spirit of new ideas and experiments, I don’t think I have any takeaways over and above what you’ve already heard from me. But do you want to know more about this experiment?
If you think that taking online conversations offline to improve their quality, respect and richness is a good idea, Ron and I have some ideas for how to do it. First and foremost, we aren’t going to do it for you, or even get involved. No fancy technology, no elaborate process. If you are dissatisfied with online conversations and want to take them offline, Ron and I have created a manifesto which will serve as a guide and an encouragement for how you can do that, and how we can help support you. You can download a copy of this from safetyontap.com/manifesto, or at safetydifferently.com if you search for the word manifesto. Ron and I will be experimenting with this, and keen to share what we discover.
Thanks so much for listening. Until next time, what’s the one thing you’ll do to take positive, effective or rewarding action, to grow yourself, and drastically improve health and safety along the way? Seeya!