The Curious Incident of the Runway Incursion in the Night-Time

Sometimes after an incident, a system-wide change is implemented that makes work more difficult and creates new problems. This story is one such example, which contains useful lessons for responding to rare events. Steven Shorrock recounts the tale.

Work-As-Imagined Solutioneering: Ten Traps Along the Yellow Brick Road

On major projects, some surprises unfold slowly via ‘work-as-imagined solutioneering’. Based on observations in several industries, Steven Shorrock presents ten traps that we can all fall into.

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

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. 

On the Spread of Ideas: Four Roles and Four Traps 

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

Digitalisation at Sea: All Hands on Deck

This article is a reproduction of the Editorial published in HindSight magazine issue 33 in…

If It Weren’t for the Managers…

“If only it weren’t for the managers, the goddamned managers, always getting tangled up in the…

Facing up to Command-and-Controlism: Twenty Warning Signs

In my last post, I offered a reworked version of the 12-steps of Alcoholics Anonymous…

Recovery from Command-and-Control: A Twelve-Step Program

Most of us in democratic countries would hate to see the rise authoritarianism. When we…

Organisations and the Ghosts of Failures Past, Present and Yet to Come

How do organisations learn? It is fairly uncontroversial to say that we, as individuals and…

“Are We the Baddies?!” Symbols and Organisational Cultures

Once your own culture becomes invisible to you, you know you have become a victim…