"Reliability" has become a watchword in the business community. Increasingly, it refers to anticipation and resilience organizations' ability to plan for, absorb, and rebound from shocks. Across many sectors and cases, the approach to improving reliability in primary technical systems has been remarkably similar. Stakeholders assume that improved reliability lies in better design and technology. This book speaks to the severe limits of formal design and technology relative to operational skills, experience, and knowledge. The debate over the vulnerability of critical infrastructures has far...

"Reliability" has become a watchword in the business community. Increasingly, it refers to anticipation and resilience organizations' ability to plan for, absorb, and rebound from shocks. Across many sectors and cases, the approach to improving reliability in primary technical systems has been remarkably similar. Stakeholders assume that improved reliability lies in better design and technology. This book speaks to the severe limits of formal design and technology relative to operational skills, experience, and knowledge. The debate over the vulnerability of critical infrastructures has far...

The safe and continued functioning of critical infrastructures--such as electricity, natural gas, transportation, and water--is a social imperative. Yet the complex connections between these systems render them increasingly precarious. Furthermore, though we depend so heavily on interconnected infrastructures, we do not fully understand the risks involved in their failure.

Emery Roe and Paul R. Schulman argue that designs, policies, and laws often overlook the knowledge and experiences of those who manage these systems on the ground--reliability professionals who have vital insights...