# WAI vs WAD

*Tom Geraghty · Safety & Human Error, Models & Critique*

Explains Work as Imagined vs Work as Done — the gap between how work is described and how it's actually performed. Traces the concept through Faverge and Shorrock, and applies Taylorist assumptions as the root cause of treating that gap as a problem rather than information.

- **This page:** https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/psychological-safety-work-as-imagined-vs-work-as-done/
- **Read the full article on psychsafety.com:** https://psychsafety.com/psychological-safety-work-as-imagined-vs-work-as-done/
- **Interactive map:** https://explore.psychsafety.com/?node=wai-wad

## Connected concepts (37)

- [Exploration and Exploitation in Organizational Learning](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/march-1991.md) (paper)
- [Organizing for High Reliability: Processes of Collective Mindfulness](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/weick-sutcliffe-obstfeld-1999.md) (paper)
- [Risk Management in a Dynamic Society: A Modelling Problem](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/rasmussen-1997.md) (paper)
- [Working in Practice But Not in Theory: Theoretical Challenges of "High-Reliability Organizations"](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/laporte-consolini-1991.md) (paper)
- [A Leader's Framework for Decision Making](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/snowden-boone-2007.md) (paper)
- [From Safety-I to Safety-II: A White Paper](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/hollnagel-wears-braithwaite-2015.md) (paper)
- [Local Rationality](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/local-rationality.md)
- [The Giving of Orders](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/follett-1926.md) (paper)
- [Why Hospitals Don't Learn from Failures: Organizational and Dynamics That Inhibit System Change](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/tucker-edmondson-2003.md) (paper)
- [Assessing the Impact of Planned Social Change](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/campbell-1979.md) (paper)
- [Collective Mind in Organizations: Heedful Interrelating on Flight Decks](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/weick-roberts-1993.md) (paper)
- [Coming to a New Awareness of Organizational Culture](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/schein-1984.md) (paper)
- [HOP](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/hop-human-and-organisational-performance-training.md)
- [Learning Teams](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/learning-teams.md)
- [Moving off the Map: How Knowledge of Organizational Operations Empowers and Alienates](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/huising-2019.md) (paper)
- [Organizational Learning: A Theory of Action Perspective](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/argyris-schon-1978.md) (paper)
- [Soft to Each Other, Hard on the System](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/be-soft-to-each-other-and-hard-on-the-system.md)
- [Taming Prometheus: Talk about Safety and Culture](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/silbey-2009.md) (paper)
- [The Influence of Psychological Safety and Confidence in Knowledge on Employee Knowledge Sharing](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/siemsen-et-al-2009.md) (paper)
- [The Unintended Consequences of No Blame Ideology for Incident Investigation in the US Construction Industry](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/sherratt-et-al-2023.md) (paper)
- [Verbal Reports as Data](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/ericsson-simon-1980.md) (paper)
- [A Tale of Two Safeties](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/hollnagel-2012-tale.md) (paper)
- [Dr Richard Cook](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/psychological-safety-78-dr-richard-cook.md)
- [HOP Core Principles](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/the-core-principles-of-human-organisational-performance.md)
- [Human Error & PS](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/psychological-safety-human-error.md)
- [PS in Aviation](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/psychological-safety-aviation.md)
- [Resilience Engineering](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/psychological-safety-resilience-engineering.md)
- [Safety I & Safety II](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/psychological-safety-73-safety-i-safety-ii.md)
- [Safety Work vs Safety of Work](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/safety-work-vs-the-safety-of-work.md)
- [Swiss Cheese Model](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/the-swiss-cheese-model.md)
- [Team Learning in the Field: An Organizing Framework and Avenues for Future Research](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/harvey-edmondson-2025.md) (paper)
- [Westrum's Typologies](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/psychological-safety-81-westrums-cultural-typologies.md)
- [Making Work Visible](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/psychological-safety-67-making-work-visible.md)
- [Micromanagement](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/micromanagement.md)
- [Reflections Pt 3: The Safety to Dissent](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/reflections-part-three.md)
- [Sociotechnical Theory](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/sociotechnical-theory.md)
- [Newsletter #94: Psychological Safety and Agile](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/psychological-safety-94-agile.md)