Campaign Against Stupidity

The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) has teamed up with An accomplished author, Andy Green, to tackle the misuse of health and safety as an excuse to ban trivial activities, publishing a new guide entitled Overcome Stupidity in the World Around You.

The new guide is “designed to help people cope with increasing stupidity in the world caused by the pressures of modern life” and was launched by the Stupid Aid campaign, being run by the Flexible Thinking Forum.

The Flexible Thinking Forum is a not-for-profit social enterprise which promotes creative thinking skills to help combat “stupidity” — whether it is dealing with bureaucrats, a boss or if someone is in a position where a sensible decision has to be made.

With examples ranging from the causes of the global credit crunch to personal experiences, when you are told ‘the Computer says ‘No’ or ‘It’s ‘health and safety’ or ‘data protection’, the new survival manual, provides practical tools, tips, ideas and inspiration of what to do when you are faced with examples of bureaucracy gone mad, daft decisions, or inflexible ‘jobsworths’.

The new guide, written by leading creativity expert Andy Green, highlights how, in spite of massive technological advances to make us act ‘smarter’, the opposite seems to happen.

Commenting on his new book Andy said: ”Stupid Aid has a serious message - we want people get in control of their world to fight back against stupidity, or not feel so helpless whenever they come across it. We hope it will not be a losing battle”.

He added: “Stupidity is not about intelligence – it’s about the flexibility of your thinking. Inflexible thinking leads to stupidity, flexible thinking is the key to creativity. Everyone should be comfortable with their own stupidity – we all make mistakes every day based on inadequate information. We all however, should avoid 5 star stupidity, repeating any earlier stupid acts, and should challenge ‘compound stupidity’ wherever we witness it.”

Croners quote a source at IOSH as saying there are almost “daily examples” of urban myths alleging health and safety has gone mad, and Andy Green’s new survival manual aims to provide practical tools, tips, ideas and inspiration on what to do when faced with examples of bureaucracy gone mad, daft decisions, inflexible “tick-box Tony's” or untrue stories.

The guide uses its own “stupid thinking rating scale”, where different types of stupid thinking receive a rating between one star and five.

The public is also being invited to submit its own examples of stupid thinking at a special Stupid Aid website with the best suggestions being bestowed a Golden Lemon award for their stupidity.

Commenting on the guide, Andy Green said, “So many good causes, such as sensible health and safety or risk management, are being undermined by stupidity. Stupid Aid has a serious message — we want people to get in control of their world to fight back against stupidity, or not feel so helpless whenever they come across it.”

The Stupid Aid website can be accessed at www.flexiblethinkingforum.org.uk

Source: Croners / Flexible thinking

Designed, Hosted and Maintained by Union Safety Services