WEBINAR: FROM ROOT CAUSE TO REAL CAUSE: What Lincoln Can Teach Us About Learning from Failure

Join us February 11, 2026, for a complimentary webinar titled “FROM ROOT CAUSE TO REAL CAUSE: What Lincoln Can Teach Us About Learning from Failure.” In this webinar, Alan Grant and Laura Harrison will shed light on typical shortcomings of investigation processes and share innovative, insightful methods that reveal deeper systems issues influencing negative outcomes.

When faced with poorly performing contracts and failing supply chains and during the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln resisted the easy path of blame. Instead, he focused on understanding and fixing the systems that produced failure. His approach offers timeless lessons for leaders today who want to strengthen organizational learning and safety performance.

In this webinar, “FROM ROOT CAUSE TO REAL CAUSE: What Lincoln Can Teach Us About Learning from Failure”, we will explore how Lincoln’s problem-solving mindset can reshape the way organizations investigate incidents and learns from failure. Drawing from decades of client experience and research, we’ll examine why most investigations stop at the surface level and rarely uncover the deeper, systemic causes that truly shape risk. You’ll learn how traditional processes often direct attention toward the workforce instead of examining the decisions and structures that create the conditions for failure.

Through an in-depth case study, we’ll contrast a traditional investigation that missed key system drivers with a more robust method that revealed a network of influences evolving over time — ultimately culminating in a fatality. Together, we’ll explore what a “real cause” looks like and how organizations can improve the value of their investigations.

We’ll close by returning to Lincoln’s legacy: his focus on diagnosing sources, not symptoms, to improve performance. Participants will leave with new insights into how incidents and injuries are often the downstream effects of interconnected decisions made long before the event itself, and how to see and address those influences proactively.

Laura and Alan will answer participant questions at the end of their presentation. Please feel free to submit any questions you have when you register.

Please Note: This event is specifically designed for safety leaders who are working to eliminate Serious Injuries and Fatalities within their organizations. We respectfully request that independent consultants and employees of safety consulting firms not participate in this event.