PreAccident Investigation Podcast

In this episode of the Pre-Accident Investigation Podcast, Todd dives deep into the intriguing world of risk perception. He explores the philosophical and practical differences between viewing risk through the lens of the individual versus the organization. Todd discusses the timeless debate between the foxes, who know many things and embrace nuance, and the hedgehogs, who know one big thing and focus intensely on it. Join Todd as he examines how these differing cognitive styles impact our understanding and management of risk. He delves into the importance of balancing these perspectives to foster a risk-informed and competent workforce, drawing insights from psychology, engineering, and even Greek philosophy. This thought-provoking episode challenges the conventional views on risk and encourages listeners to rethink their approach to uncertainty in the workplace.

Welcome to the Pre-Accident Investigation Podcast Safety Moment with Todd. In this episode, Todd delves into the well-known phrase "practice makes perfect" and offers a fresh perspective on its true meaning. While many of us have heard and used this phrase countless times, Todd explains why we don't practice to achieve perfection but rather to navigate a world full of imperfections. He highlights the importance of building capacity to handle high-risk, high-consequence situations through practice and simulation. Join Todd as he emphasizes the significance of practicing in an imperfect world to be prepared for variations and unforeseen challenges. This short and sweet safety moment encourages us to learn, have fun, and be kind and safe in our daily lives.

Welcome to another insightful episode of the Pre-Accident Investigation Podcast with Todd Conklin! In this episode, Todd shares his recent travel adventures and dives into a crucial discussion about the distinction between prevention and recovery in the realm of safety management. Fresh from a trip to Europe, Todd reflects on the challenges of managing safety in organizations, especially after catastrophic events. He emphasizes the importance of shifting the focus from merely preventing accidents to enhancing the capacity for recovery when things go wrong. Listeners will gain valuable insights into how leaders can better understand and manage the aftermath of serious incidents, ensuring that their organizations become more resilient and capable of handling unexpected failures. Todd also teases a potential future discussion with Eric Holnagle on the nuanced concepts of safety and safely, promising a deep dive into this fascinating topic. Join Todd as he unpacks these critical ideas, offering practical advice and thought-provoking perspectives to help organizations navigate the complexities of safety management. Don't miss this episode if you're looking to enhance your understanding of safety, leadership, and organizational culture. Tune in, learn something new, and be part of the conversation!

The podcast discusses the importance of trust in building relationships and emphasizes that trust is earned through consistent commitment and trustworthy behavior.

Join Todd Conklin on the Pre-Accident Investigation Podcast for an insightful discussion with the fabulous Martha Acosta. This episode delves into Martha's fascination with the liberal arts and her recent seminar on "2001: A Space Odyssey." They explore Kubrick's central theme of evolution and its relevance to leadership and organizational development. Martha shares her journey of writing a book focused on building safety capacity within organizations. She emphasizes the critical role of leadership in creating and shaping meaning within a system. Through engaging case studies, such as the Columbia disaster and the Chilean mining disaster, Martha illustrates how leadership practices can significantly impact an organization's ability to recover from failures. The conversation touches on the paradoxical nature of leadership, the importance of developing external perspectives, and the systemic nature of soft skills like influence and psychological safety. Martha introduces the CHIP tool (Consequences, Habits, Identity, Power) as a method to uncover underlying issues in organizational behavior. Tune in to discover how leaders can develop emotional resilience, create capacity, and foster environments where innovation and safety thrive. Whether you're a formal leader or an informal influencer, this episode offers valuable insights for anyone looking to enhance their leadership capabilities.

Welcome to the Pre-Accident Investigation Safety Moment with your host, Todd Conklin. In this episode, Todd explores the concept of signal strength and its impact on workplace safety. Using the example of crossing a street and encountering poorly timed crosswalk signals, he illustrates how weak signals can indicate underlying issues in a system. Todd emphasizes the importance of identifying and addressing these weak signals to enhance safety. He encourages leaders and managers to listen to their workers and diagnose problems before they escalate into significant events. By improving signal strength, we can create stronger, safer systems. Tune in to learn how to spot weak signals and make your organization safer. Remember, your role is to listen, identify, and act to ensure a secure working environment. Have fun, stay curious, and be safe!

In this engaging episode of the Pre-Accident Investigation Podcast, host Todd Conklin teams up with leadership expert Jennifer Long for a thought-provoking conversation on leadership and capacity in today's complex organizational environments. Together, they explore how leaders can build confidence and capacity within their teams to foster innovation and resilience. Jennifer shares insights from her recent leadership development program, while Todd delves into the importance of monitoring capacity rather than just measuring it. They discuss the balance between efficiency and thoroughness, and how leaders can shift their focus from simply solving problems to understanding and analyzing them deeply. Tune in for an enlightening discussion on how modern leadership can adapt to ever-changing challenges, the significance of creating safe-to-fail environments, and the critical role of curiosity and learning in effective management.

Welcome to the Pre-Accident Podcast Safety Moment! In this episode, we delve into the age-old debate of free will versus predeterminism, exploring how individual behavior is influenced by organizational systems, processes, and culture. Our host challenges the notion of free choice in the workplace, arguing that context plays a significant role in shaping our decisions. From the clothes we wear to the products we use, many of our choices are influenced by the environment around us. Join us as we discuss the powerful impact of context on workplace safety and the importance of understanding these influences. Learn something new, have fun, and stay safe!

So we lost a good friend this weekend, and I wanted to take a moment and just celebrate the life of Jim Howe.  This is just a little special podcast. I hope you take a minute and listen to it just because Jim Howe is somebody really special that if you don't know, I wish you did know him. And if you do know him, you totally know why I had to say a few words. Jim's a remarkable force. I guess maybe it's more accurate to say Jim was a remarkable force. That's hard. But Jim, I think, carried more than his fair share of the weight of moving safety into more contemporary thinking. And he did it in such interesting ways. You know, he was on all these international standards committees, and he helped write a lot of the international standards for safety and for investigatory work and for certification and audits and assessments. And he did that because he knew it would matter, because he knew in essence that was his legacy, is if you want to change a bureaucratic function, you have to change the bureaucratic function. And his belief was, because he told it to me many times, that his voice in the room was often the only voice that was speaking for looking at these problems differently than we have before. And Jim was amazing at that. Jim spent years in safety. I know for certain he was at the United Auto Workers as the assistant director of safety, and he was at UAW for 20 years, maybe even a little longer. And he ended up at that assistant director spot, and he really led a lot of the more significant efforts that UAW did throughout North America. He's done many, many, many serious critical investigations, fatality investigations. And he was quite amazing at that work, which you have to just be thoughtful that that's an area that I'm not sure how much you want to be amazing at, but he was. He was incredibly good at it. But what I think he liked even more was going out and doing site visits because he did hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of site visits. And I think he liked most of all talking to the people. At least that's certainly my impression. I've known Jim for a lot of years, certainly more than 10 years. And I have lots of stories about Jim and funny things that happened and how easy it was to get him to laugh and how much he enjoyed the laughter. But I think what most comes to my mind is how thoughtful Jim was about the people and how much he cared about the people and how much he cared about providing, really, an opportunity for the world to be a better place. So, you know, I talk all the time about what is meaningful work. Well, the answer is good work done well for the right reasons. And if I had to pick somebody that exemplified that, it would be Jim. Good work, done well, for the right reasons. Jim's remarkable, and he will be missed. And after a four-year struggle with prostate cancer, he lost it gallantly this weekend. And our thoughts are with him and certainly with his family, but even more importantly, with everybody he touched. changed throughout the globe, but certainly specifically throughout North America. Jim, we'll miss you, my friend. It was good to know you. You made the light of the world a little bit brighter, and that's amazing. So to our friend Jim Howe, what a great life you lived, and what a significant contribution you gave, not just to us who do this work, work but to everybody who has to work jim we'll miss you.

Jenna Merandi, a medication safety officer, and James Won, a human factors expert, share their insights on proactive safety in pediatric healthcare. They discuss innovative strategies to reduce adverse drug events through collaboration and learning from high-risk industries. The conversation highlights the importance of designing systems that prioritize human capabilities and the cultural shifts needed in hospitals to enhance patient safety. Their work showcases a fearless, patient-first mentality that drives significant advancements in pediatric healthcare.