The Beauty of Human Error
Human error is the foundation of the human condition. The nature of fallibility/mortality makes human persons who they are. And, this delicate balance in βbeingβ human is in some ways beautiful. For, βbeauty is in the eye of the beholderβ and it depends on how you βseeβ the nature of humanity, to what you envision.
Humans know just enough to see an image of perfection but never attain it. We can envision what we can never have, and dream it but, this is the nature of dreaming. Dreaming itself is another beauty of the mystery of human βbeingβ.
To live in the real world, we must face the reality of fallibility and its necessity (https://www.humandymensions.com/product/fallibility-risk-living-uncertainty/). Without fallibility we would never know risk or learning. Both mortality and fallibility are essential for risk and learning.
If you believe in βroot causeβ you could go back in time to Aristotleβs βunmoved moverβ and blame him for fallibility. Or, you could blame the βbig bangβ or Cranmerβs god βwithout passionsβ. But, there is no changing the nature of the human condition. Indeed, no-one even knows what or where consciousness is. This mystery is also its beauty. Fallibility puts humanity back in its place by knowing we are not god.
It was Kierkegaard who described humanity as the βabsolute paradoxβ. He pushed against the quest for certainty proposed by Descartes and Hegel. This is because uncertainty (risk) and paradox are foundational to the human condition.
You can wish away fallibility as much as you like and hope for perfection, but as we know, this is just evidence of delusion and a mental health disorder. Even in human projections of god, we invent perfections that donβt make sense. How can the perfect know imperfection?
So, to live in uncertainty is a gift. Knowing how to do such living is when one sees beauty in fallibility. When one can live in the dialectical contradictions of fallibility, one can understand its beauty.
Fallibility is not the enemy. Blame is not the problem. It is what you do with these realities that makes the difference.
The quest to eradicate fallibility and blame is the delusion of Safety=Zero. This is because Safety thinks the purpose of living is to be safe and unharmed. The purpose of living is not about being un-harmed nor keeping safe. Indeed, from the pains of birth to the pains of death, life and being is about the nature of what fallibility brings, harm. If humans were perfect, they could never know harm, learning or risk.
One of the humorous aspects of Safety is watching it try to control the un-controllable. As Safety flounders about thinking James Reason gave some insight into βslipsβ, βlapsesβ, βmistakesβ and βviolationsβ it remains seduced by nonsense language that has no explanation of human error. Nothing published in safety about human error explains the nature of human error. This is because you can explain the inexplicable, nor define of the indefinable. You canβt control the uncontrollable. No wonder Safety keeps getting frustrated attempting to believe the impossible.
This doesnβt mean humans need to be fatalistic but similarly, making human error the enemy of safety, simply demonises the human condition. The balance is learning how to live with human error and fallibility NOT denial.
Similarly, anxiety of blame and demonising blame, further moves safety away from how to deal with blame. The best way to deal with blame and fallibility is not by putting oneβs head in the sand. This is called βhead in the sand safetyβ (https://safetyrisk.net/consciously-safe-unconsciously-unsafe-or-head-in-the-sand-safety/).
If you get a methodology (philosophy) of human error in the right place by acceptance, then you can develop methods that best tackle human error. This is what we do in SPoR, we learn to live with human error and blame rather than fixate on delusion. If you want to learn about holistic and positive methods for how to live with human error you can write here: admin@spor.com.au
Prof. Robert Long
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Isnt the purpose of living, to live, enjoy, embrace…reading this just made me think that a simple definition of safety could be ‘human beings being human.
Thanks Grant. Yes, I think too many in safety want super humans or non humans in their world.
A brilliant summation and a personal confidence booster.
Thanks Andrew. Some sanity in Safety for a change.
Great blog, so true
Thanks Brian. You know more than many how acknowledging fallibility improves safety.
Thanks Rob for this one- I got a lot out of this –
I had a situation recently with one of my clients-that reminded me of your article-
A small utility contractor in rural Iowa.
I was βvisitingβ the site with the owner- the crew as preparing to excavate near a congested cluster of underground lines.
Itβs cold, windy, and everyone was a little tired.
Then I show up- mindful of SPoR and working with the owner on culture.
During the morning tailgate, the foreman, Miguel, admitted something quietly:
βI marked the wrong depth on the plan yesterday. I was rushing. We caught it this morning.β
In a traditional safety culture like my clients, this moment would trigger:
β’ a corrective action
β’ a root cause analysis
β’ a reminder about βattention to detailβ
β’ maybe even a note in his file-
I treated his fallibility as beautiful β not because the mistake is good, but because the honesty is.
It took a few miles down the road to explain this to the owner-
Billy
Great story Billy. So important to be fallible with people as opposed to the faux superiority of Safety. No one responds well to safety arrogance. Ya canβt be with others if you think you are above them.