The Field Guide to Understanding 'Human Error' 3rd edition by Sidney Dekker (2014) Hardcover

by Sidney Dekker

Hardcover

About the author

Sidney W. A. Dekker (born 1969, "near Amsterdam"),is a Professor at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia, where he founded the Safety Science Innovation Lab. He is also Honorary Professor of Psychology at the University of Queensland.

Previously, Dekker was Professor of human factors and system safety at Lund University in Sweden,where he founded the Leonardo da Vinci Laboratory for Complexity and Systems Thinking, and flew as First Officer on Boeing 737s for Sterling and later Cimber Airlines out of Copenhagen. Dekker is a high-profile scholar and is known for his work in the fields of human factors and safety.

Reviews

[Patrick Dewind · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned about this book from a video I saw on Youtube where Dekker was reframing the investigation about the 3 Mile Island incident, and honestly I thought it was brilliant. Some years later I found that the author had done an audiobook version I could listen to with my membership into a service, so I figured why not?

Though Dekker's focus is in safety, I find much of what he has to say relevant to other areas such as project management, or just about anywhere where failure exists in a group endeavor. Though the point of failure may end up being rather simple, how the failure happened is much more complex, and requires a look into deeper concerns than the actions of the person who was there when the failure happened. Nobody sets out to fail with few exceptions like people trying to scam investors (but then their failure is a success for them).

Lots to think about in the handbook. I'll likely check out some of his other works, especially the one about drift.