26 | Beyond Blame: Building High Reliability Organizations w/ Dr. Ur Barzel

In this powerful episode of The Workplace Therapy Podcast, Scott Arrieta, CEO of Unity & Company is joined by Dr. Ur Barzel — a leading expert in organizational change, high reliability organizations (HROs), and systems thinking.

Together, they explore how organizations in high-risk industries like healthcare, aviation, and the military achieve low error rates not by eliminating human mistakes, but by building environments that promote psychological safety, systemic learning, and continuous improvement.

Through real-world examples — including the case of nurse RaDonda Vaught, tragic system failures in amusement parks, and the evolution of aviation safety protocols — Dr. Barzel illustrates why blame cultures fail and how leaders can cultivate just cultures that truly fix root causes.

Whether you’re leading a hospital, a startup, or a Fortune 500 company, the lessons in this conversation are clear:

• Blame doesn’t fix broken systems.

• Fear kills innovation and transparency.

• Leadership begins with creating environments where people can speak up safely — and learn together.

If you're ready to move beyond surface-level fixes and lead lasting change, this is an episode you won’t want to miss.