HOP Theory, Practice and Tools

that you can take away and use now

Guiding you and your teams to peak performance through thought-provoking
and experiential training, coaching and mentorship.

Backed by robust systems knowledge and technical expertise, we create a psychologically safe environment where you and your teams unlock human factors and master practical skills. We give you the know-how, the tools and the support to make results stick and empower your people to achieve the extraordinary.

CHRIS IS TRYING TO BRING HOP INTO THEIR COMPANY.

BUT THEY ARE STRUGGLING

Human and Organisational Performance (HOP) is a 'movement' in the modern safety domain that looks at improving performance (and so safety) by applying five simple principles. The problem is that while they might be simple, the implications and consequences can be seen by some as threatening and impacting organisational power dynamics.

The principles provide a compass for an organisation to follow. While a (road)map might appear to be useful, the map is not the territory in a complex domain, and this means no matter how much you plan something and try to control it, there is always going to be a difference between 'Work as Imagined' and 'Work as Done'. This gap introduces an unmanaged risks to the organisation, and the application of HOP principles creates a lens through which they can be viewed.

What Chris wants is something that will help them work with their leadership, their teams, and their clients and contractors, to demonstrate what the principles are about in a manner that doesn't create professional jeopardy and allows learning, and then gives them the resources to take these principles into their business to support positive change.

Human and Organisation Performance is often championed by the safety teams, but the principles apply to all aspects of the business. In fact, some of the key players to make HOP successful are from operations and HR. Adopting this approach should be a key strategic development aspect for any business. It can provide tangible metrics without falling into the area of the McNamara fallacy.

Chris could be one of these people or fill one of these roles. Are you like Chris?

Leaders or Individuals who are exploring opportunities to implement HOP in their organisation
HSEQ Leaders
Senior Operational Leaders

WANT TO BE PART OF THIS?

CURIOUS TO FIND OUT MORE?

CONVINCED? BOOK A CALL 🚀

NEXT SESSION: 10-11 SEP 2024. LONDON. £1950pp. PLACES LIMITED

WANT TO KNOW MORE? BOOK A CALL

WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT FROM THIS WORKSHOP?

Applicable Theory and Knowledge

Human in the System has a strong academic background. But that doesn't mean our sessions are academically-focused. We are known for taking complex topics, bringing them to life, and creating thinking leaders and workers so that they can apply the latest ideas to their operational and knowledge-worker space.

We'll give you the latest theory concerning HOP, psychological safety, just culture, and learning from unexpected outcomes.

One area we know organisations struggle with the concept of 'Just Culture' and so will provide a specific session on this with additional resources for post-workshop reference.

Experiential Activities for Learning in Real-time

We make sure that the activities we deliver are practical and highly experiential, triggering emotions so that the memories are 'sticky'. We create the conditions so you can abstract from the learning into the operational space. Learning transference is key.

We use a number of different activities including Planks and the serious game 'Who was last to touch it?'. These bring the complexities of work to life in an environment with no professional jeopardy.

Resources and Tools to take away and use immediately

Experiences are not enough. Post-workshop, you need resources and tools to use when you get back to your workspace.

To help you do that, we give you books, slides/PDFs, and 'serious play' activities with instructions so you can run your own training sessions.

We will also co-develop your resource needs during our time together and provide them within 4 weeks of the workshop.

It is always a challenge to justify time away from business without a clear ROI - these targetted tools can help with that.

Knowledge has maximum value when shared. We share resources, and you develop your knowledge and performance.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS HAVE SAID

"Since first meeting Gareth many years ago and being introduced to his “Human in the System” approach it has benefited my own business. Perhaps more importantly I have adopted many facets of the Human in the System approach when supporting my own clients and I continue to do so to this day. Whether large or small, start up or established, developing or simply improving, the application of this approach has helped me to help many businesses, including the mentoring of individuals. We often talk about ‘value’, ‘added value’ and ‘cost-benefit’ and I can say unequivocally that “Human in the System” delivers fully on all counts."

Robin Kirkpatrick, Oceanum Ltd

"I have extremely diverse, technically skilled people within my team. Very few are taught how to respond to interactions when work does not behave as expected.
The 2-day Introduction to HOP workshop helped bring the team together and create a common understanding and language to use in a relaxed environment with some fun thrown in for good measure. It was challenging and, for some, uncomfortable against their traditional ways. It has made us better as a team. Watching the serious play unfold was great as each member started to understand its application. I’d recommend this to anyone looking to build common ground in their teams."

Gareth Evans, Global VP Safety Yondr

"Gareth's delivery of the Interpersonal Skills LAB TTT curriculum exemplifies masterful course design and facilitation. Participants find themselves deeply engrossed in discussions and processes, experiencing frequent "aha" moments throughout. The program offers profound insights into both the explicit content and the subtle art of facilitation. By observing Gareth's structure and style, attendees gain invaluable lessons in effective teaching and course design. This thoroughly enjoyable and welcoming experience provides exceptional value, elevating participants' skills as facilitators and instructional designers."

Sam Gladman. Fighter Pilot and Chief Operations Officer

THE FIVE (HOP) PRINCIPLES

The five HOP principles outlined below are interdependent. We need to consider how we perceive 'error', the context in which it happened (and was classified) and how the leadership and team view the outcomes. Picking one to work on without considering the others is like playing whack-a-mole.

1. Human error is normal

All errors are made by humans, so why use 'human'. All errors are really only classifiable after the event because an error is an unintended deviation from a preferred behaviour, and if we didn't intend to do 'that thing' beforehand, we'd change our actions and behaviours.

As such, it is much better to consider performance variability and think about how we limit the variability or uncertainty in a complex system. We'll never get to zero harm or zero errors, so let's assume they will happen.

2. Blame adds no value (to learning)

Blame does have value. It makes us feel that it was someone else's problem and we wouldn't make that same mistake. It has societal value because we believe people should be punished for bad outcomes. It has self-value when it comes to self-blame because how could WE be so stupid?

But when it comes to learning, it adds almost no value because we all have variability in our performance (even the experts). So, let's look at the conditions in which we undertake our activities (from boardroom to front-line) and change those, not reward/punish the outcomes and fall foul of many cognitive biases in the process.

Look to develop a restorative (just) culture in your team and organisation.

3. Context drives behaviour

It is easy to judge others when things go wrong, but do we consider how it made sense for them those involved to do what they did? Why do bank ATMs give you the card first and not the cash? Why do supermarkets put bread and milk at the back? Why do metrics surrounding safety get gamed and produce meaningless and useless results? Why do busy people forget things?

This principle explores the factors that make it easier to do things (right and wrong) and harder to do other things (wrong and right).

4. How you (leaders) respond matters

While the main focal point for HOP programmes is the leadership within an organisation, leaders exist at all levels, not just the C-suite or the Senior Leadership Team (even if they think they are managers rather than leaders). Leaders are those individuals that others look up to for support, guidance and direction - they don't have to have a title.

Because they are in this influential position, their response to positive and negative outcomes matters. If blame, including the use of counterfactuals and self-blame, is one of the first things to be demonstrated when something unexpected or unintended happens, then the stories that could help learning will be buried and the deeper underlying issues will remain within the system.

5. Learning and improving are vital for success

Systems evolve based on feedback. The more rapid and the more accurate the feedback, the quicker the system can evolve to the situation surrounding those in the system.

Learning shouldn't just happen after a major event, learning can happen when nothing bad has happened because teams look to see how work was done using different reflective tools like DEBrIEFs, Learning Teams, and Learning Reviews. However, for these to be effective, there needs to be a psychologically-safe environment and a Just Culture.

THE FIVE (ICAO) PRINCIPLES

We don't tell you the answers. We don't give you the solutions. You find them after we engage with curious and humble questions.
But it can be uncomfortable because that isn't how learning has been experienced in the past.

Human error is normal

We create a psychologically safe environment to ensure everyone feels seen and heard, and can challenge the status quo. We explore a non-domain related problem, exploring and discovering the behaviours and context that led to the unexpected event.

Blame adds no value (to learning)

We then hold a mirror up to you and your team, helping you identify ‘problems’ in your own operations, guiding you to explore and discover the similarities to your own domain, and breaking down the biases that are normally present - "We wouldn't make that mistake because we are different."

Context drives behaviour

By questioning the 'system' with the human in mind, we empower you to grow both professionally and personally, moving beyond the proximal 'causes', which have tried to be fixed but aren't fixable. People are the solution, not the problem.

How you (leaders) respond matters

Through critical reflection and specific exercises to move beyond the theory and your direct experiences in the workshop, you find the answers to your 'real' problems. We didn't tell, you discovered it with some guidance.

Learning is vital for improvement

WHAT'S IN THE TWO DAYS?
Powerful and memorable experiences, plus valuable resources!

Day 1: 09:00-17:00

- Introduction to the philosophy and practical application of HOP

- Organisational Drift model and how to apply it

- Principle 1: Human error is normal.

- Principle 2: Blame adds no value.

- Principle 3: Context drives behaviours.

- Principle 4: How you (leaders) respond matters?

- Principle 5: Learning is vital for improvement.

- Reflections and transference.

Throughout the day we will make use of the 'serious game' tools (Who's last to touch it? and Planks) to bring the theory to life. You will get to take away your own 'games' at the end of Day 2.

There will be breaks morning and afternoon, plus lunch will be provided.

Day 2: 09:00-12:30

- Recap of Day 1

- Effective & learning focused DEBrIEF

- Local Rationality Investigations

- What Just Culture really means.

Day 2: 13:15-17:00

- Resource Identification

For learning to be effective i.e., knowledge retained and then used in the workplace, it has to be relevant to the operational environment. You are never going to remember everything you experienced in the class, so the PM session on Day 2 involves going through a requirement generation process to develop resources for when you get back to work and have to deploy these tools.

The goal is to identify key practical resources that meet the following requirements:

Concerns you have
Tasks you need to complete
Resources to refer to
Experiences to have

We will prioritise them, and spend the next 4 weeks putting them into the Human in the System Learning Academy for you to access.

At the end of day two, you will have the skills and knowledge to put these ideas and concepts into immediate action when you return to work. We are always at the end of an email or WhatsApp if you're struggling to make it connect too, plus you'll get coaching emails post-workshop to nudge you.

STORYTELLING, ABSTRACTION, AND CONTEXTUALISATION

Our process is simple, yet profound. We take powerful real-life lessons from one space; we abstract the theory or concept; and then bring it into to your environment. We set up a safe space for peer learning across teams within your organisation, so you can self-coach, self-correct and self-create through guided discovery.

Learning, innovating, thriving in a complex world (whatever and wherever that world is for you).

Are you a (person, entrepreneur, etc) who is ...... ?

Relate to the problems of your reader.

Relate to problem 1. Ut singulos flores irrigent, etiam minimos. Et in cacumine montis acuminati. Ubi arbores robustae crescunt.
Relate to problem 2. t singulos flores irrigent, etiam minimos. Et in cacumine montis acuminati. Ubi arbores robustae crescunt.

Relate to problem 3. t singulos flores irrigent, etiam minimos. Et in cacumine montis acuminati. Ubi arbores robustae crescunt.
Relate to problem 4. t singulos flores irrigent, etiam minimos. Et in cacumine montis acuminati. Ubi arbores robustae crescunt.

Then you've come to the right place.

Join the Course

Our world is complex. Full of intricacies, obstacles and challenges. But our world is also exciting. Full of potential, ideas and creativity. But what happens when the world fails us? When the systems we’ve created so meticulously leave us in the lurk? Do we look to the next person and lay a blanket of blame on them? Or do we simply walk away, because ‘this is just too difficult’ or ‘I don’t have time for this’?

And yet … What if we shifted from a mindset of blame to learning? What if we questioned the system, instead of the human? What if we saw the dots that were invisible before and a new picture emerged in front of our eyes that made everything look a little different?

And what if *gasp* we saw that this new way of seeing was what we needed all along?
To do better. To blame less. To move forward. To create and to grow.

Human in the System revealed!

That’s us. We are the ones who ask ‘what if’. We are the ones holding up the mirror. We are the challengers of the status quo.

We point out the dots that others have missed.

We unleash unexpected connections, possibilities and imagination.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS HAVE SAID

CHOOSE HOW YOU WORK WITH US

Leadership and Team  Development Programmes

Leadership and teamwork don't just happen, especially if you subscribe to a compliance-focused 'sheep-dip' approach. We embrace the principles of Human Performance (ICAO)/Human and Organisational Performance (HOP)

Learning Teams & Local Rationality Investigations

Traditional root cause analyses tend to focus on simple tools like 5 Whys or Fishbone diagrams. Complexity needs different tools.

Just Culture and Psychological Safety Masterclasses

"Why do we need a whole day to talk about Just Culture?" .... 

"Oh, that's why...it's messy and complex..."

Bespoke Workshops

While there are 'standard' programmes that we can call upon, the most effective way of creating learning and change in your team or organisation is by understanding your needs.

Coaching and Mentoring

We firmly believe in the 10-20-70 rule when it comes to knowledge acquisition and skill development. Learning. Not training.

Train the Trainer

Human in the System is a strong believer in sharing and distributing our knowledge to others so that they too can make positive changes in the world.

This is what is inside!

In this section you can describe all the items you cover in your course. Show your readers how much value is included!