Four Kinds Of Thinking: 1. Humanistic Thinking

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 focuses on humanistic thinking.

System Safety: Seven Friends of Intervention

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 to thinking).  They are not the only foes or friends, of course, but they are significant ones that either crop up regularly in discussions and writings about safety, or else – in the case of friends – should do. In this post, I outline seven friends of intervention.

System Safety: Seven Friends of Explanation

In this short series, I highlight seven foes and seven friends of system safety, both…

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. But what is the real focus of Safety-II?

Human Factors at the Fringe: BaseCamp

A legendary rivalry: one mountain and two climbers seeking to be the best. We join…

Human Factors at The Fringe: Nuclear Family

Nuclear Family is a gripping piece of interactive theatre which follows Joe and Ellen, nuclear…

The Whole Picture

During my teenage years, I was primarily interested in the arts, not the sciences. I…

If It Weren’t for the Managers…

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

Empathy: A Core Condition for Humanistic Design

Many involved in human-centred design (ergonomics, human factors, UX, interaction design, etc) have an internal…