Category Archives: systems thinking

Four Kinds of Thinking: 2. Systems Thinking

Posted on 25/11/2019 by

Understanding and intervention for system performance and human wellbeing is rooted – to some extent – in four kinds of thinking. In this short series, I outline these. This post concerns Systems Thinking. Continue reading →

Posted in Human Factors/Ergonomics, Safety, systems thinking | Tagged , | 1 Comment

How To Do Safety-II

Posted on 03/11/2019 by

Safety-II, its cousin Resilience Engineering (and offshoots such as resilient healthcare), as well as predecessor concepts and theories, have attracted great interest among organisations and their staff. People, especially front-line staff, understand the need to understand all outcomes – wanted … Continue reading →

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The Reality of Goal Conflicts and Trade-offs

Posted on 30/10/2019 by

“Safety is our number 1 priority!” But is it really? Continue reading →

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Shorrock’s Law of Limits

Posted on 24/10/2019 by

“When you put a limit on a measure, if that measure relates to efficiency, the limit will be used as a target.” Continue reading →

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The Organisational Homelessness of ‘Human Factors’

Posted on 04/07/2019 by

In this post, I outline four common homes for HF/E within organisations, drawing on personal experience in each of the four organisational divisions in different organisations. I conclude with some of the implications of organisational homelessness. Continue reading →

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Reflections from the edge

Posted on 02/07/2019 by

I have ‘worked on work’ for my whole professional career. For the majority of that time, I have worked primarily in aviation. Unlike many in the industry my primary interest is not in aviation, any more than it is in … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Humanistic Psychology, systems thinking | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

‘Human Factors’ and ‘Human Performance’: What’s the difference?

Posted on 24/04/2019 by

The term ‘Human Performance’ (and ‘Human and Organisational Performance’ (or HOP) has become increasingly common in recent years in a number of industries, especially those with a safety focus. It is often associated with ‘Human Factors’, or even used as … Continue reading →

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