Thank you for your order. Your two guides are on their way by email now, and your deck will follow in the post. Watch your inbox for the first of six short emails on running your first sessions.
Better Questions
for Learning
by being curious about the messy reality of high-risk operations.
Seventy-five cards that help leaders, supervisors and review teams find out how work is really done, before something goes wrong and after it has. Draw one or two in a brief, a debrief or a handover, then listen without judging or fixing.
When the system is quieter than the work
- Briefings are one-way, and the questions at the end rarely get an answer.
- The same kind of event keeps coming back, at a different site or with a different crew.
- Reviews end with “human error”, a warning and more training.
- People say everything is fine until the day it is not.
- The dashboard is green, and you are not sure what it is hiding.
- Handovers cover the checklist but miss what the next shift really needs to know.
None of these are signs of bad people. They are signs that the conversations the system needs are not happening, or are not safe enough to be honest. That is the gap these cards are designed to close.
The view from the top hides the gaps
From above, almost every operation looks complete. Procedures are signed off, the audit is green and the numbers are calm. That view is made of what the organisation writes down, measures and rewards. It is useful, and it is also incomplete.
The people who do the work know where the gaps are, because they fill them every day. They will only show you if two things are true: you go and look, and they trust what you will do with what they tell you. You cannot fix a secret.
Two decks in one set, built around how work really happens
Every question has been written to invite a story rather than a defence. Starred cards ask about what goes well, because you learn as much from the days that worked as from the ones that did not.
Pre-event cards
Grouped across the seven parts of the work system (PETTEOT), each in its own colour. Use them in briefs, debriefs, team meetings and handovers to surface weak signals while they are still cheap to fix.
Ask cards
For the people involved after an event. They begin with care and normal work, then let the person tell their story in the order it made sense to them.
Reflect cards
For the review team only. They check for hindsight, outcome bias and the easy first explanation, so the review covers the whole system and not just the last person to touch it.
Plus three information cards explaining how to use the deck. Printed on durable card, ready for the briefing room, the site office or a supervisor’s bag.
Seven parts of the work system
PETTEOT is the framework at the heart of Learning from Emergent Outcomes. Pick an element to see one of its questions.
Person
Ask it, then stay quiet for longer than feels comfortable. The first answer is rarely the full one.
Five minutes, one or two cards, one small change
There are no right answers, only better questions. The cards work because they slow the rush to a solution and give people permission to describe what is really going on.
Draw
Pick one or two cards at the start of a brief, a toolbox talk or a handover. Choose an element you have not looked at for a while.
Listen
Let people answer without judging or fixing. Ask “tell me more” before you ask anything else.
Notice
Look for the gap between how the work is written down and how it gets done, and for what makes the job go well.
Agree
Finish by agreeing one small change you will try, and come back to it at the next session.
What teams get from better questions
Briefs that build a shared picture
People raise what worries them before the job starts, while it is still cheap to fix.
Debriefs that produce learning
Questions that invite stories rather than defences, so you hear what really happened.
A view of work-as-done
The adaptations and workarounds that keep the job going become visible and discussable.
Reviews that look at conditions
The Reflect cards keep hindsight and outcome bias in check, so the system is examined rather than the last person to touch it.
More voices in the room
Quieter and newer team members have a structured way in, and leaders learn to weigh in last.
Learning from what goes well
Starred cards help teams find and protect the things that make a job go right.
A good question needs a safe place to land
You cannot run these sessions without psychological safety. Every time someone answers one of these cards, they are quietly working out what happened the last time somebody said something honest. If the response was curious, they will tell you more. If it was defensive, they will tell you what they think you want to hear.
That is why every deck comes with my guide, Building Psychological Safety in High-risk Teams. It sets out Dr Timothy Clark’s four stages, with ten practical activities for each, so the cards build trust over time rather than spending it.
Each stage rests on the one below it. Inclusion is the foundation for everything else.
Quick check: is your team ready for better questions?
Tick each statement that is usually true when something goes wrong in your team.
Choose the right start for your team
Every order includes the digital guides Building Psychological Safety in High-risk Teams and Seeing the Whole Tower, and a short email series showing you how to run your first sessions.
Single deck
For a leader or supervisor who wants to start this week.
- One 75-card deck
- Psychological Safety guide (PDF)
- Seeing the Whole Tower guide (PDF)
- Six-week “first sessions” email series
Team pack
A deck for every supervisor or crew lead, at £18 each.
- Ten 75-card decks
- Both digital guides for the whole team
- One-page facilitator quick card
- 45-minute online kick-off call with Gareth
Facilitated launch
For organisations rolling the cards out across sites or functions.
- Decks at bulk rates
- Half-day psychological safety and questioning workshop
- Practice sessions using your own work
- Follow-up review after 60 days
| Option | Price | Per deck |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 9 decks | £20 each | £20 |
| Team pack: 10 decks | £180 | £18 (10% off) |
| Department pack: 25 decks | £450 | £18 (10% off) |
| 50 decks or more, or another quantity | Ask for a quote | Licensing and co-branding available |
Delivery is added at checkout once you enter your address: UK from £10, international from £15. To pay by invoice or purchase order, send us an enquiry.
One deck for everyone who leads a brief, a handover or a review
The cards were written for high-risk, high-consequence work. They are designed for teams in aviation, healthcare, energy, construction, defence and commercial diving. The industries are different. The patterns are the same.
Supervisors and team leads
Open conversations in briefs, toolbox talks and handovers that do not normally happen, using the pre-event deck.
Safety and review teams
Use the Ask and Reflect cards to keep interviews and reviews focused on conditions rather than culprits.
Senior leaders
Take the cards on site visits to see more than the view from the top, and to show that you want the real story.
Gareth Lock
I spent 25 years in the Royal Air Force as a C-130 navigator and tactical flight instructor, and I hold an MSc in Human Factors and System Safety from Lund University. Through Human in the System I help high-risk organisations build teams that learn, using Learning from Emergent Outcomes, the DEBrIEF model and the psychological safety work in this deck.
These cards came out of years of debriefs and workshops where the most useful thing in the room was a well-timed question, asked by someone who was ready to hear the answer.
Before you order
Do I need training to use the cards?
No. The information cards and the email series cover what you need to run a first session. If you want your supervisors to practise the listening and follow-up skills together, the facilitated launch is designed for that.
Can the Ask cards replace our investigation process?
No. They support learning conversations and are not a substitute for professional investigation, legal advice or your organisation’s procedures. Many teams use them alongside a formal process to improve the quality of the interviews.
Why is psychological safety part of this?
Because a question only works if the person answering believes it is safe to tell the truth. If people expect blame, they filter what they say, and the organisation learns from distorted information. The guide shows you how to build the conditions first.
How is this different from the diving edition?
The Human Diver edition is written for diving teams. This Human in the System edition uses the same structure and the PETTEOT framework, with questions written for high-risk operations more widely.
Do you offer co-branded or licensed versions?
Yes, for orders of 50 decks or more. Get in touch and we can talk about what your organisation needs.
How much is delivery?
Delivery is added at checkout once you enter your address. In the UK it starts at £10, and international delivery starts at £15. For large orders, get in touch and we will arrange the best route.
Can I pay by invoice or purchase order?
Yes. Send us an enquiry with the quantity and delivery address and we will send an invoice.
Talk to us about your organisation
For 50 decks or more, co-branded or licensed decks, a facilitated launch workshop, or payment by invoice, tell us a little about your team. You will then be able to book a 45-minute conversation with Gareth.
If you would rather go straight to the diary, book a time here.
The next event is already forming somewhere in your system
The people closest to the work can probably tell you where. Give them a better question and a safe place to answer it.
Be better than yesterday.
Guiding you and your teams to peak performance through thought-provoking and experiential training, coaching, and mentorship.
m: +44 7966 483832 e: [email protected] a: Malmesbury | Wilts | SN16 9FX
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Contact
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📧 [email protected]
📍Malmesbury | Wilts | SN16 9FX