Dr. Todd Conklin has spent 27 years as a Senior Advisor for Organizational and Safety Culture at Los Alamos National Laboratory.  Dr. Conklin has honed his craft in Human Performance at Los Alamos and through his interactions as an international speaker and thought leader in the realm of Operational Learning.  Conklin holds a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from the University of New Mexico and has authored several bestselling books, including Pre-Accident Investigations, and Pre-Accident Investigations: Better Questions.  He speaks all over the world to executives, groups, and work teams who are interested in gaining a better understanding of the relationship between the workers in the field and the organization's systems, processes, and programs.

Conklin also hosts the award-winning Pre-Accident Investigation Podcast.

June 14th from 8:10 – 9:10 AM

Dr. Conklin will be presenting Cat Juggling, There is no Procedure- Workers Create Safety

Workers are the solution...NOT the problem.

To improve our processes and results, we must understand the true nature of work as performed.  That transformative understanding can only come from the stories of the people that do the work.  We must write procedures that have tolerance for both ERROR and VIOLATION, because in all of our process and procedures we have violation and error everyday.  Almost all procedures require some degree of adaptation by the user, but few procedures are written with adaptation in mind.  This sets-up a no-win situation for the worker.

Todd will explore the gray space of adaptive work, where all your proactive operational learning lives.  To learn we must set aside many tightly held management philosophies.

• Planners are smarter than workers.
  
• We have accidents because people don’t follow the rules.
  
• Consequence determines reaction.
  
• Our safety was superior until this event.
  
• An outside team creates the best actions to prevent re-occurrence.
  
• We as leaders must “hold people accountable” to improve results.

Todd will lay out a map for shifting your organization's leadership effort towards a new definition of safety and, most importantly, how to begin a new method of operational learning. The challenge is to not expect better answers to our safety questions; the challenge is to learn to ask better questions.

The way an organization views accountability gives a quick snapshot of where the organization is on their journey to "New View."  Understanding how leaders and managers think about accountability, blame, and learning are better assessments than any climate survey.   Knowing how leaders and managers use the word "Accountability" - tells us much about how this organization is currently functioning.

The next level of performance at your organization will not come from the corporate office or from procedures. Good leadership is still required; we must unlock the stories and wisdom to promote learning and engagement.

Join us at the 2016 conference in Colorado Springs to hear Dr. Todd Conklin, and other truly amazing speakers!