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A Very Public Screw Up

14 September, 2023 by James Lawther Leave a Comment

Nigel Mansell's 1991 Williams-Renault example of avoiding blame culture.

Blame Culture, Isolate the Problem, Not the Person At the Portuguese Grand Prix in 1991, Formula One racing provided a textbook example of why organisations should avoid a blame culture. Nigel Mansell, driving for the Williams-Renault team, was in first place as he pulled in for a pit stop. What should have been a slick […]

Filed Under: Blog, Process Improvement Tagged With: blame, continuous improvement, culture, leadership, Nigel Mansell, simplicity, video, Williams-Renault

Preventing Human Error

18 April, 2020 by James Lawther Leave a Comment

The oscar that became a case study in preventing human errors

A Problem with the envelope On February 26th 2017, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences held its 89th award ceremony, celebrating the best films of 2016. The ceremony was a case study in preventing human error (or not depending on your perspective). It went swimmingly until the very last award for best picture. Faye Dunaway […]

Filed Under: Blog, Process Improvement Tagged With: accident prevention, accountability, blame, clarity, data presentation, error proofing, risk assessment, simplicity

Hold Their Feet to the Fire

17 August, 2019 by James Lawther Leave a Comment

Accountability We spend a lot of time talking about accountability and responsibility. If you google “Accountability versus Responsibility” you will get at least 51 million hits.  Most of them tell you that you can’t manage people if you aren’t clear about accountabilities and responsibilities. (Please don’t ask if I have looked at all 51 million, […]

Filed Under: Blog, Employee Engagement Tagged With: accountability, beliefs, blame, fear and anxiety, roles and responsibilities

Mishaps, Accidents and Family Bust-Ups

5 March, 2019 by James Lawther 6 Comments

Swiss cheese I went skiing during half term. It is the thing to do. The only (and I mean only) time you will ever prise the British middle classes out of their Volvos and BMWs and onto a bus is during the spring half term break. Then, miraculously, you will find all the little Joshuas […]

Filed Under: Blog, Employee Engagement, Tools & Techniques Tagged With: accident prevention, blame, culture, error proofing, swiss cheese model

The U-Turn

29 January, 2019 by James Lawther Leave a Comment

Executive express There is a new model of executive saloon on the market. It comes with all the bells, whistles and gizmos: Adjustable heated leather seats with multipoint massage to reduce stress Drinks cabinet with crystal glass decanters and walnut inlay for further stress reduction Five litre super charged, turbo charged, fuel injected engine for […]

Filed Under: Blog, Employee Engagement Tagged With: blame, culture, human nature

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