RESEARCH_FILE
Sidney Dekker
Griffith University
Known for:Safety science and human factors research showing that 'human error' is a symptom of system design problems, not a root cause — and that stopping at blame prevents organizations from understanding real failure conditions
SEE THE PRACTICE
Turn a thought this research explains into one clear move.
THE THOUGHT
“Everyone remembers me as the outage guy”
YOUR RECORDED RESPONSE
“The system failed through conditions I didn't control alone. I'm a contributor, not the root cause.”
ONE PRIVATE MOVE
Open the incident channel. Find one incident with your name. Read only the system failure section—the actual root cause. Notice whether the cause is something you alone decided to do, or a condition that existed. Write down the condition. Close the document.
Key findings
- 2006
In The Field Guide to Understanding Human Error, Dekker introduces 'the new view' of human error: operators are not the problem but the inheritors of system problems. Blaming individuals stops investigation at the human surface and leaves the real systemic causes intact. The Field Guide to Understanding Human Error ↗