Tag Archives: Artificial Intelligence

Information-Rich, Command-Poor: The Emerging Executive Risk in the Age of AI

Artificial intelligence is giving executives unprecedented access to information, but more information does not necessarily produce better leadership. Drawing on firsthand executive experience and emerging research, this article explores the Information-to-Command Gap—the challenge of converting AI-assisted research into genuine understanding, sound judgment, and organizational influence. It introduces the Executive Command Protocol, a practical framework for ensuring that AI expands human capability without undermining the independent thinking required for consequential decisions. Continue reading →

Posted in AI, Artificial Intelligence, Business Accumen, Career Skills, Digital Twin, Leadership, Leading at Scale | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Executive Information Command Drill

From Information Available to Information Commanded About the Executive Information Command Drill The Executive Information Command Drill is a reusable AI prompt designed to help professionals move beyond gathering and analyzing information to developing the personal command necessary for effective … Continue reading →

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Why Decision Rights Are Critical for EHS Success

Effective EHS leadership depends on more than accountability—it requires clearly defined decision rights. Explore how aligning authority, expertise, and operational responsibility strengthens risk management, improves business performance, and prevents costly governance failures. Includes a real-world case study and a downloadable EHS Decision Rights Assessment Tool. Continue reading →

Posted in EHS Management, EHS Management Systems, enterprise risk management, Leadership, Leading at Scale | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Earning Executive Influence: Six Lenses for EHS Innovation and Payback

What if your EHS team had to earn the business before it could earn the influence? EHS leaders frequently talk about wanting greater influence with executive management. We want to be involved earlier in business decisions, have operating leaders seek … Continue reading →

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AI Won’t Need to Become Evil to Become Dangerous: What the AI Doomsday Debate Means for EHS

Artificial intelligence is rapidly moving from a tool that provides information to systems that can make decisions, take action, and interact with other agents. For EHS professionals, that shift should raise a familiar question: are capability and autonomy expanding faster than the controls designed to manage them? This article examines the AI “doomsday” debate through an EHS lens, connecting emerging AI risks to Management of Change, SIF prevention, human factors, inherited risk, and defense in depth. Continue reading →

Posted in AI, Artificial Intelligence, Design for Safety, Digital Twin, Innovation, Technical Skills | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

If Everything Still Comes to You, You Haven’t Scaled Leadership

As leadership responsibility grows, working harder and staying involved in everything stops working. Drawing on experience scaling an organization from 15 to 300 people, this article explores how EHS leaders can multiply their impact through people, management systems, governance, delegation, digital tools, and AI—and build an organization capable of making thousands of good decisions every day. Continue reading →

Posted in Business Accumen, EHS Management, enterprise risk management, Leadership, Leading at Scale, operational integrity | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

SIF Reduction: The Leading Edge of Operational Integrity

SIF prevention belongs within the broader discipline of Operational Integrity. Preventing life-altering events requires more than a safety program; it requires an operating system that connects leadership, frontline knowledge, reliable controls, meaningful data, and organizational learning. Continue reading →

Posted in AI, Artificial Intelligence, EHS Management, enterprise risk management, risk management, Serious Injury & Fatality (SIF) | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Contractor Safety Management: The Contractor Operational Integrity Model

I’m pleased to share my latest article: “The Future of Contractor Safety Management: The Contractor Operational Integrity Model.”

The impetus for this piece came from my participation on a contractor safety panel at the Avetta annual conference in Chicago in mid-May. The discussion reinforced something I believe strongly: contractor safety management is moving into a new era.

For too long, contractor safety has often been treated as a compliance and prequalification process. Those elements still matter, but they are not enough. The future is about work readiness, verified control of work, and operational integrity at the point where risk is real.

In the article, I introduce the Contractor Operational Integrity Model, built around six core elements:

Critical Risk Definition
Capability and Capacity Verification
Control of Work Discipline
Field Verification and Leadership Cadence
Performance Intelligence
Corrective Learning and System Improvement

The central message is straightforward:

Compliance is the foundation. Operational integrity is the standard.

Contractor safety is not just a safety department issue. It is a test of how well safety, operations, procurement, maintenance, and contractors operate as one system under real field conditions.

I appreciate the Avetta team for hosting a strong discussion and creating space for practical dialogue on where contractor risk management needs to go next. Continue reading →

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Operational Integrity: The Operating Model Heavy Manufacturing Needs

Heavy manufacturing does not fail all at once. It usually fails in layers.

A workaround becomes normal. A critical control weakens. A maintenance backlog grows. A near miss is explained away because no one was hurt. Over time, the operation drifts from discipline into exposure.

That is why I believe Operational Integrity needs to be treated as an overarching operating model, not just another safety, reliability, or compliance initiative.

In this article, I outline a practical framework for Operational Integrity built around five elements:

Operating Envelope | Strong Systems | Reliable Equipment | Leadership Cadence | Disciplined Operations

The goal is simple: help manufacturing organizations run with greater control, consistency, resilience, and accountability — for the benefit of employees, customers, communities, owners, and all stakeholders who depend on the enterprise. Continue reading →

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Cyber-Physical Risk in the Age of AI: How Safety Professionals Help Directors Make Better Operational Technology Investment Decisions – Part 4

As the final article in this four-part series, Fay Feeney and I bring the conversation into the boardroom. Operational technology is no longer just an engineering concern—it is a governance test. As AI-enabled assets reshape industrial operations, directors are approving new risk profiles, resilience assumptions, and value-creation models. Continue reading →

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