What is HPRCT and why should you know about it right now?
HPRCT.org is a website for a pretty amazing organization that has evolved over many years supporting professionals in Human Performance, Root Cause, or Trending fields. The first one I went to was in the late 90's: Kansas City, and it truly changed my life. My eyes opened at the conference and I knew this is what I wanted to do for a career - this was a time when commercial nuclear power was really starting to get rolling pursuing improvement in event reduction and capacity factor.
People were talking at this conference about how to make an Event Clock at nuke stations that made sense to everyone (workers and leadership) - can we track this like we track safety (LTAs, Recordables, First Aids, Near Misses)? It almost seemed as everyone was taking a large step at the time - what is it, how do we do it, how can we all get better? At the time, there was a lot of theories and everyone was pretty much doing their own thing, and INPO laid the earliest groundwork for human performance programs and what they are and how they could benefit your nuclear power company. Some workers didn't want it, some did, and a lot of management was pushing back (all the non-believers - "Show me number value!" "You can't measure errors prevented!"). We were very much in an age of discovery (reactive) and lacking practitioners to make some proactive sense of it all. When INPO said it was important, slowly but surely, all nuclear stations got on board - thankfully, too, because this data is what actually proves focusing on error reduction and event prevention works!
In the fairly early 2000s I was fortunate to be on a conference-hosting team when HPRCT met in Mystic, CT. Here is where I met Sydney Dekker in the hallway and he gave me 30 minutes of his time. I'll never forget that encounter and with my faith in this path renewed even stronger, I set out to become a full-time practitioner which was finally realized in 2007 and I have never looked back. HPRCT did that for me, and it could do it for you, too!
Fast forward to now and there's an organization who has been through it all, keeping practitioners trained and informed on what's been going on through industry by people out there doing some real good in this very niche field. This organization reaches beyond the borders of energy, where most conferences in this realm seem to focus their attendance, and it doesn't take an invite, affiliation, or special permissions to come to the event.
For this conference, I'm excited to share with everyone how to put together a Human Performance Film Festival and the benefits achieved by creating and then holding such an event. I've been very excited to share this and all the positivity that surrounds it!
As a practitioner, I am excited to learn about what other people are doing in 2018 to really make a difference in organizations and quite willing to discuss what I do. I feel fortunate to be among a lot of speakers of whom I stand on their shoulders. Major compliments to this cast and the team that put it together. If you're a Human Performance Practitioner, a Causal Analysis Evaluator, or into Trending, this is an amazing chance to see a wide panel of experts and learn whats new! If you're a company looking to find out more about this world, consider sending some representatives. This isn't a conference about venders selling you their wares, it's a learning experience you just can't find anywhere else.
I hope to see you there - Please find me and say "hello" - I'd love to chat,
James
June 19-21, 2018 in San Antonio