Containment: Deference to Expertise

The very nature of the environments that high reliability organizations (HROs) exist in precludes any kind of script, checklist, or playbook that covers every possible issue.  So how do HROs deal with this drawback?  They push decision making, especially in times of crisis, as much as possible to the frontline leaders and managers.  The true experts - the individuals who know their systems the best - are found on the frontlines and not in the board room!  Moreover, there is no way that an executive leader can have a full understanding of all the information that is at the frontline.  Even with the best communication plans and systems, the individuals who will have the most up-to-date and most accurate information will be the ones on the frontline.

Here is a list of all the posts in which the main (or at least a major) theme is "Deference to Expertise":

1.   "Brace for Impact" (September 18, 2016)
2. "Did he really say Shut up and listen?" (November 30, 2016)
3. "HRO: Deference to Expertise" (December 5, 2016)
4. "You know what to do..." (January 29, 2017)
5. "...plans are useless, but planning is indispensable" (August 9, 2017)
6. "Sua Sponte" (November 7, 2018)
7. "Biblical Org Charts" (November 14, 2018)
8. "The goal of all leaders should be to work themselves out of a job" (September 29, 2019)
9. "Taming the chaos" (February 23, 2020)
10. "Study the past" (March 11, 2020)
11. "Hungry, hungry hippos" (May 27, 2020)
12. "We rely upon your ability...you know what to do" (August 16, 2020)
13. "The bureaucracy paradox" (February 21, 2022)
14. "The definition of power is the transfer of energy" (May 7, 2022)
15. "Serve and thou shall be served" (July 23, 2022)
16. "We were soldiers once..." (July 30, 2022)
17. "The six thousand mile screwdriver" (October 22, 2022)
18. "Why Ted Lasso is the perfect HRO leader" (May 22, 2023)
19. "Player, Manager, Coach" (May 24, 2023)
20. "The few and the proud" (September 7, 2023)
21. "White elephants and wheelwrights" (November 3, 2023)
22. "The power of empowerment" (November 14, 2023)
23. "The Nelson Touch" (February 19, 2024)
24. "Leadership is not about solving problems??" (March 28, 2024)
25. "Turning around the ship..." (May 5, 2024)
26. "Better, stronger, faster, and flatter?" (August 28, 2024)
27. "Empowering employees doesn't mean leaving them alone..." (September 7, 2024)
28. "Improvise, Overcome, Adapt" (September 13, 2024)
29. "Fix the environment, not the people..." (September 27, 2024)