The contribution of creativity of action to safety: the key role of requisite imagination
Résumé
The aim of this paper is to show that requisite imagination by designers and more broadly by all workers – the ability to wonder and imagine key aspects of the future we are planning/designing – can be considered as a manifestation of creative action in organization and should be encouraged. We conducted an intervention in a nuclear power plant facing with a new nationwide policy seeking to extend the lifespan of nuclear facilities through important alterations. The first alteration made turned out badly, due to poor anticipation and a focus on technical effects, whilst organizational aspects were largely excluded. We decided to facilitate the conduct of a collective inquiry with the stakeholders involved with these ongoing evolutions, to discuss organizational design and stimulate requisite imagination. We discuss our main finding from three perspectives: theoretical, methodological and practical.