Can adherence to process mask weak signals of risk? A cool read examining how ‘soft’ info influences safety in rationalistic firms (a prison in this case) that prioritise ‘hard’ info. Shared under an open access licence. PS. Check out my YouTube: https://youtube.com/@safe_as_pod?si=iUaDPJynPemQRZhY Shout a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/benhutchinson Extracts: · “Soft information is informal, tacit and often qualitative”,… Continue reading Sensemaking, bureaucracy and weak signals (full PDF article)
Tag: sensemaking
Snook Friendly Fire: “Seeing is not necessarily believing; sometimes we must believe before we can see… The Hind was constructed … at the intersection of a … ambiguous stimulus, a strong set of expectations, and a perverse desire to see an enemy”
Extracts from one of my fav books – Scott Snook’s Friendly Fire. It’s a masterclass in applying sensemaking to understand a tragic event – in this case the 1994 friendly fire shootdown of two US Black Hawks, mistaken for enemy Hind helicopters. I’ve recorded a YouTube vid focusing on the sensemaking / Weick & practical… Continue reading Snook Friendly Fire: “Seeing is not necessarily believing; sometimes we must believe before we can see… The Hind was constructed … at the intersection of a … ambiguous stimulus, a strong set of expectations, and a perverse desire to see an enemy”
Systems thinking, culture of reliability and safety
Fantastic read from Nick Pidgeon on how systems approaches, Turner’s MMD, sensemaking, failure and learning intersect to create or mask ‘safety’. Can’t do it justice, so just a few extracts: · “By 1990, it was clear that the .. intellectual focus was less on analysing how past accidents had occurred .. and more towards .. how… Continue reading Systems thinking, culture of reliability and safety
“How can I know what I think till I see what I say?” – Karl Weick on sensemaking
“How can I know what I think till I see what I say?” I’ve always liked this expression from Karl Weick (taken from Graham Wallas), discussing the retrospective justification element of sensemaking. Pretty heavy for a Sunday morning my time. But here we are. Sensemaking is argued to entail: (image 1) · Thoughts justifying earlier words… Continue reading “How can I know what I think till I see what I say?” – Karl Weick on sensemaking
Karl Weick: Leadership as the Legitimation of Doubt
An interesting article from Karl Weick discussing the merits of ‘leadership as the Legitimation of Doubt’. He argues the strengths of a leader saying ‘I don’t know’. Some extracts: · Providing an example, he argues that a leader saying “I don’t know,” … was a strong act of leadership, not a weak one” · “It was strong… Continue reading Karl Weick: Leadership as the Legitimation of Doubt
SafetyInsights.org 