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Author: Steven Shorrock

This blog is written by Dr Steven Shorrock. I work as an transdisciplinary humanistic-systems practitioner in safety critical industries. I blog in a personal capacity. Views expressed here are mine and not those of any affiliated organisation. Fellow of the British Psychological Society (FBPsS) | Chartered Psychologist (CPsychol) | Chartered Ergonomist and Human Factors Specialist (CErgHF) | BSc (Hons) MSc (Eng) PhD LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/steveshorrock/ | Email: contact[at]humanisticsystems[dot]com
  • Human Factors/Ergonomics

Surprises, Fast and Slow: Preparing for the Limits of Work-as-Imagined

  • by Steven Shorrock
  • Posted on 30/01/202331/03/2023

This article is a reproduction of the Editorial published in HindSight magazine issue 34 in…

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  • Human Factors/Ergonomics

HindSight 34: Handling Surprises (Tales of the Unexpected) is out now

  • by Steven Shorrock
  • Posted on 26/01/202305/10/2023

HindSight is a magazine on human and organisational factors in operations. HindSight magazine is free…

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  • safety

Getting a Handle on Three Zones of Performance

  • by Steven Shorrock
  • Posted on 30/12/202227/05/2024

Reflections on what distinguishes the three zones of performance in the well-known graph associated with Safety-II.

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  • Human Factors/Ergonomics

Twenty Five Years: Reflections on the Practice of Improving Work

  • by Steven Shorrock
  • Posted on 06/11/202217/03/2023

In this post, I reflect on what I learned since graduating and have found to be most important to practice in the design and improvement of work.

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  • Culture

Staying In Control: Five Suggestions From a Long-Distance Psychologist on the Centenary of Air Traffic Control

  • by Steven Shorrock
  • Posted on 20/10/202220/03/2023

On the centenary of air traffic control, and the International day of the air traffic controller, I offer five suggestions that have emerged from my experience of working with air traffic controllers over 25 years of practice as a psychologist. 

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  • Health and Wellbeing

On Living and Dying: 2. The Simple Thing Wrong With Us

  • by Steven Shorrock
  • Posted on 03/10/202210/12/2024

Are there people in your life to whom you feel, at some level, a need…

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  • Health and Wellbeing

On Living and Dying: 1. Eulogy Virtues

  • by Steven Shorrock
  • Posted on 28/09/202210/12/2024

One of my favourite places is a cemetery. It is not the kind of cemetery…

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  • Health and Wellbeing

“Above All Else…” Reflecting on the Gifts of Richard I. Cook

  • by Steven Shorrock
  • Posted on 16/09/202210/12/2024

Sometimes, people come into your life and – through a rare blend of qualities – support you through the challenges and struggles in a way that few can. Richard Cook has been such a presence in my life.

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  • safety

On the Spread of Ideas: Four Roles and Four Traps 

  • by Steven Shorrock
  • Posted on 22/06/202230/10/2025

In this post, I describe four roles for the spread of new ideas, and reflect on corresponding ego traps or shadow roles.

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  • Humanistic Psychology

Adjusting to Major Life Changes

  • by Steven Shorrock
  • Posted on 16/05/202210/12/2024

When stressful or traumatic life events come along, we all respond in different ways. One of these may seem counter-intuitive, that we can thrive and flourish following adversity. In this article, Stephen Joseph introduces the psychology of post-traumatic growth, with Steven Shorrock.

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About the Author

This blog is written by Dr Steven Shorrock. I work as an transdisciplinary humanistic-systems practitioner in safety critical industries. I blog in a personal capacity. Views expressed here are mine and not those of any affiliated organisation.

Fellow of the British Psychological Society (FBPsS) | Chartered Psychologist (CPsychol) | Chartered Ergonomist and Human Factors Specialist (CErgHF) | BSc (Hons) MSc (Eng) PhD

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/steveshorrock/ | Email: contact[at]humanisticsystems[dot]com

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Human Factors & Ergonomics in Practice

'Human Factors & Ergonomics in Practice' concerns the real practice of human factors and ergonomics (HF/E), conveying the perspectives and experiences of practitioners and other stakeholders in a variety of industrial sectors, organisational settings and working contexts. Buy direct from Routledge.

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    Work-as-done is the work that people actually do, cognitive, verbal and manually. Work-as-judged is the judgement, evaluation or appraisal of work, via other proxies for work-as-done. Work-as-simulated is the work that is imitated or recreated in some way for the purposes of learning, testing, design, research, assessment, or exploration. Work-as-instructed is the explanation and demonstration describing how work is to be conducted or performed; the work that people are taught to do.

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