The focus of the inventors of the Hein-concept, Jules Heijneman and Kim Reuser, was originally on safety.
Zimbardo: ‘As soon as they told me, I said: “The physical well-being of workers is very useful, but it is only a narrow area to focus on. Workplace safety should be just one of your domains.” Because Hein is applicable to all sorts of relationships.’
Although you just used the word “funny”, I wonder if it is attractive for most managers to work with concepts that push their employees to speak out and stand up.
Zimbardo: ‘A lot of managers tend to reject new things, even when the old things are failing. Systems typically retain their power by not allowing outsiders in, and certainly no outside criticism. There are exceptions: the organization is losing lots of money and/or gets in the news in a negative way... But you don’t just want to wait for disaster to strike.
This means managers should be open to considering new ways, whatever they are doing. They don’t want people to just sit and say “that’s a nice idea”. Managers want people to say “we’ll stop doing A” and “we’ll start with B”.
What we’re talking about is a framing game, about creating narratives that change thinking and, ultimately, behavior. The Hein concept has the potential to reach that point.
It is such a creative idea. Just look at the name of it. I first thought Hein was a Dutch word and thought: “Does it mean hero, or challenge, or...” No! It doesn’t mean anything! And so it could be used in any language and any culture.’
Resultaten en contact
Prof. Zimbardo benadrukt dat hij zeer benieuwd is naar de resultaten die Hein boekt binnen organisaties. Die resultaten staan onder meer op deze hein-website, in interviews met managers en directeuren die met hein werk(t)en en uiteraard de effecten daarvan registreerden. Maar die interviews waren ten tijde van de ontmoeting tussen hein en Zimbardo alleen in het Nederlands beschikbaar, waardoor ze voor hem niet toegankelijk waren. De hoogleraar gaf bovenstaand interview puur op basis van zijn kennismaking met het concept, zonder informatie te hebben over vervolgtrajecten, die de effecten van Hein blijvend verankeren in de organisatie.
Prof. Zimbardo en het Hein-team hebben besloten om contact te houden. Zijn Hero Imagination Project (HIP) is bezig met de oprichting van een Nederlands filiaal. HIP is vooral gericht op de onderwijswereld, Hein op alle sectoren.