Managing the Unexpected: Resilient Performance in an Age of Uncertainty, Second Edition

Chapter 3. The Three Principles of Anticipation

In this chapter and the next, we take a closer look at the five principles that enable HROs to maintain reliable performance while dealing with the unexpected. In this chapter, we examine the first three principles, all having to do with anticipation. As we noted earlier, the five principles serve as a basis for reasoning and a guide for conduct in high reliability systems. They also provide a framework for other organizations as well. In Chapter Two, we focused on one kind of HRO, the aircraft carrier, and used it to illustrate how effective performance is influenced by the expected, the unexpected, and mindfulness. Here and in Chapter Four, we use a different kind of HRO, nuclear power plants, ...