About the Author
Steven Shorrock is an interdisciplinary humanistic, systems and design practitioner interested in human work from multiple perspectives.
Chartered Psychologist (CPsychol) & Chartered Ergonomist and Human Factors Specialist (CErgHF)
Tag Archives: local rationality
System Safety: Seven Friends of Explanation
In this short series, I highlight seven foes and seven friends of system safety, both for explanation and intervention. Each is a concept, meme, or device used in thinking, language, and intervention (reinforced by more fundamental foes that act as barriers … Continue reading
Posted in Human Factors/Ergonomics, Safety, Systems Thinking
Tagged ABCD, adjustments, assets, degraded system, goal conflicts, human performance, interactions, local rationality, patterns, performance adjustments, performance variability, Systems Thinking, trade-offs, work, work-as-done
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The Real Focus of Safety-II
Safety-II has become a talking point. It is discussed not only among safety professionals, but – perhaps more importantly – among front line practitioners, managers, board members and regulators in a wide array of industries. Its practical and inclusive focus … Continue reading
Posted in Safety, Systems Thinking
Tagged accidents, archetypes, congruence, holism, local rationality, normal work, practice, safety, safety-I, safety-II, Systems Thinking, the messy reality, work-as-done, work-as-imagined, work-as-prescribed
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Human Factors at the Fringe: BaseCamp
A legendary rivalry: one mountain and two climbers seeking to be the best. We join them at basecamp as they prepare for the challenges of the ascent. Invited into separate tents to join just one of the two climbers, audiences … Continue reading
Human Factors at The Fringe: Nuclear Family
Nuclear Family is a gripping piece of interactive theatre which follows Joe and Ellen, nuclear plant workers and siblings, faced with an imminent disaster. Audience members will be privy to what could possibly be their last hours as they struggle … Continue reading
Posted in Human Factors/Ergonomics, Safety
Tagged accidents, empathy, hindsight, human factors, local rationality, outcome bias, safety, theatre
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The whole picture
During my teenage years, I was primarily interested in the arts, not the sciences. I was fascinated by design and language, and how these related to human behaviour and business. I grew up and worked in a wholesale, retail and … Continue reading
Posted in Human Factors/Ergonomics, Humanistic Psychology, Safety, Systems Thinking
Tagged advertising, holism, local rationality
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If it weren’t for the managers…
“If only it weren’t for the managers, the goddamned managers, always getting tangled up in the system. If it weren’t for them, the world would be a systems thinker’s paradise.” In a previous post, an article for an issue of HindSight magazine on … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Humanistic Psychology, Systems Thinking
Tagged local rationality, management, managers, Systems Thinking
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