John Wick vs ICAM

What Workplace Investigators Can Learn from the World’s Most Dangerous Problem Solver

Introduction

At first glance, John Wick and workplace incident investigators appear to have very little in common.

One is a fictional assassin who resolves conflict with precision shooting, tactical movement, and an alarming body count.

The other spends their time reviewing procedures, interviewing witnesses, building timelines, and analysing failed controls.

But underneath the surface, there are surprisingly strong parallels between the two.

Because at its core, John Wick is a story about investigation.

Every film follows the same basic structure:

• Something goes wrong

• Wick gathers information

• He reconstructs events

• He identifies contributing players

• He follows evidence

• He uncovers hidden systems

• He identifies failed protections

• He determines accountability

• Then he acts decisively

The difference is this:

John Wick’s world is built around retribution.

ICAM investigations are built around organisational learning.

That distinction matters.

Because modern investigations are not about finding someone to punish. They are about understanding how systems, conditions, decisions, controls, and organisational factors aligned to allow an event to occur. Safety Wise training consistently reinforces that investigations should establish facts, identify contributing factors, review controls, and prevent recurrence, not apportion blame.

Still, John Wick provides an entertaining lens through which to examine investigation principles.

And surprisingly often, he demonstrates behaviours investigators should absolutely adopt.

While also demonstrating several they absolutely should not.

So let’s examine what workplace investigators can learn from the Baba Yaga himself.

1. John Wick Never Accepts the First Story

One of the defining features of poor investigations is premature conclusion.

An event occurs.

Someone says:

“The operator made a mistake.”

And the investigation effectively stops there.

John Wick would never survive operating like that.

Throughout the films, Wick constantly questions surface-level explanations.

He understands:

• visible events are rarely the full story

• people conceal information

• systems influence behaviour

• context matters

• motivations matter

• hidden contributors exist beneath the obvious

That mindset mirrors good ICAM practice.

A quality investigation asks:

• What actually happened?

• What conditions existed?

• What pressures were present?

• What controls failed?

• What influenced decisions?

• What organisational factors shaped the outcome?

The ICAM and 5 Whys methodologies both emphasise moving beyond symptoms and human error to identify deeper contributing factors and systemic deficiencies.

John Wick never stops at:

“Who pulled the trigger?”

Investigators should never stop at:

“Who made the error?”

2. Wick Understands the Environment Matters

John Wick constantly adapts to his environment.

Nightclubs. Catacombs. Crowded train stations. Glass rooms. Desert landscapes.

He recognises environmental conditions shape outcomes.

Investigators should think exactly the same way.

One of the major failures in weak investigations is ignoring task and environmental conditions.

Investigators often focus heavily on people while overlooking:

• lighting

• noise

• fatigue

• layout

• visibility

• distractions

• workload

• weather

• equipment positioning

• environmental stressors

Safety Wise training materials specifically emphasise examination of environmental conditions during investigations, including illumination, contaminants, temperature, vibration, noise, work surfaces, weather, and surrounding operational conditions.

Because humans do not operate in a vacuum.

Performance is shaped by context.

John Wick understands this instinctively.

A fight in a crowded nightclub creates different pressures than a fight in an empty warehouse.

Likewise:

• a rushed shutdown

• a hot work task during outages

• maintenance under production pressure

• night shift operations

• high-noise environments

all create conditions that influence decisions and increase risk exposure.

Good investigators examine the environment surrounding the task, not just the actions of the worker.

3. Wick Builds Timelines Constantly

Every John Wick film is essentially a timeline reconstruction exercise.

He continuously asks:

• Who was where?

• What happened first?

• Who spoke to whom?

• What changed?

• What triggered escalation?

• What events led to this point?

Good investigators do exactly the same.

Timeline reconstruction is one of the most powerful tools in incident investigation.

The Safety Wise investigation process strongly emphasises timeline development as part of the “Organise” phase of GOAL: Gather, Organise, Analyse, Learn.

Because timelines expose:

• gaps

• contradictions

• failed controls

• delayed responses

• decision points

• escalating risk

Most importantly, timelines help separate fact from assumption.

John Wick rarely acts without reconstructing the sequence first.

Investigators should adopt the same discipline.

Without a timeline:

• assumptions dominate

• hindsight bias increases

• key evidence is missed

• conclusions become unstable

The timeline tells the story.

And good investigators let evidence shape the timeline, not the other way around.

4. Wick Understands Systems Better Than Individuals

One of the most interesting aspects of the John Wick universe is that it is entirely system-driven.

There are:

• rules

• governance structures

• consequences

• communication protocols

• established controls

• escalation pathways

• enforcement mechanisms

The Continental Hotel alone operates like a high-risk organisation with formal governance systems.

John Wick survives because he understands systems.

Weak investigators often focus too narrowly on individuals.

But ICAM specifically teaches that incidents emerge from combinations of:

• organisational factors

• task/environmental conditions

• individual/team actions

• absent or failed defences

-not isolated individual behaviour alone.

This is where many investigations fail.

Someone violates a procedure.

The investigation concludes:

“Worker failed to follow process.”

But John Wick would ask:

• Why was the process bypassed?

• Was the process practical?

• Were time pressures present?

• Was supervision effective?

• Was the procedure realistic?

• Was the system tolerating violations already?

Those are system questions.

And system questions produce learning.

5. Wick Knows Reputation Is Built on Preparation

John Wick’s effectiveness does not come from luck.

It comes from preparation.

Planning. Discipline. Tools. Repetition. Readiness.

Good investigators operate exactly the same way.

The Safety Wise methodology strongly emphasises:

• mobilisation

• planning

• investigation preparation

• securing evidence

• document control

• establishing investigation centres

• structured data gathering

before analysis even begins.

Poor investigations often fail because preparation fails.

Examples include:

• entering scenes too late

• missing witnesses

• failing to preserve evidence

• weak interview planning

• unclear scope

• uncontrolled assumptions

John Wick would never arrive unprepared.

Neither should investigators.

6. Wick Understands Human Performance Under Pressure

John Wick films constantly demonstrate degraded decision-making under stress.

Fatigue. Fear. Overconfidence. Cognitive overload. Tunnel vision. Time pressure.

These same factors appear repeatedly in workplace incidents.

Safety Wise materials emphasise understanding:

• slips

• lapses

• mistakes

• violations

• workload

• fatigue

• supervision

• stress

• communication

• psychological pressures

as part of understanding human error in context.

Importantly: human error itself is not the endpoint.

ICAM stresses that investigators must look beyond the error to understand why it made sense at the time.

John Wick understands context changes behaviour.

Investigators should too.

7. Wick Uses Observation Before Action

Watch any John Wick scene carefully.

Before acting, he observes:

• exits

• barriers

• threats

• movement

• behaviours

• terrain

• vulnerabilities

He scans constantly.

Good investigators do the same at incident scenes.

The Safety Wise Pocket Investigation Guide emphasises site inspection and observation before attempting to collect information.

Strong investigators observe:

• equipment positioning

• isolation states

• environmental conditions

• access routes

• housekeeping

• line of sight

• signage

• barriers

• control states

Because physical evidence often tells the truth before interviews do.

John Wick trusts observation.

Investigators should as well.

8. Wick Understands Failed Defences

One of ICAM’s strongest concepts is absent or failed defences.

Incidents rarely occur because one thing failed.

Usually: multiple protections weakened simultaneously.

The John Wick universe is filled with failed defences:

• security systems bypassed

• communication breakdowns

• intelligence failures

• procedural non-compliance

• governance failures

• ineffective controls

And when those defences fail simultaneously, consequences escalate rapidly.

This mirrors real-world incidents perfectly.

Good investigators ask:

• What safeguards existed?

• Which controls failed?

• Which were absent?

• Which were ineffective?

• Which were bypassed?

• Which relied too heavily on human behaviour?

That mindset shifts investigations away from blame and toward resilience.

9. Wick Knows Weak Intelligence Creates Bad Outcomes

John Wick survives because his information is usually accurate.

When intelligence is incomplete or wrong, people die.

The same applies to investigations.

Weak investigations often rely on:

• assumptions

• opinions

• incomplete witness accounts

• unsupported conclusions

• confirmation bias

Safety Wise training repeatedly reinforces the importance of evidence-based investigation and distinguishing fact from assumption.

A good investigator:

• validates evidence

• cross-checks sources

• identifies inconsistencies

• separates fact from interpretation

Because poor information leads to poor findings.

And poor findings lead to ineffective controls.

10. The Biggest Difference: Wick Wants Revenge. Investigators Want Learning.

This is where the comparison matters most.

John Wick seeks accountability through punishment.

ICAM seeks improvement through understanding.

That distinction separates modern investigations from blame-focused approaches.

Safety Wise material consistently reinforces that investigations are not intended to apportion blame or liability.

Instead, investigators aim to:

• identify contributing factors

• strengthen controls

• improve systems

• reduce risk

• prevent recurrence

• support organisational learning

A blame-focused investigation asks:

“Who caused this?”

A systems-focused investigation asks:

“How did the system allow this to occur?”

That is the core philosophical difference.

John Wick eliminates people.

ICAM eliminates system weaknesses.

Only one of those creates safer organisations.

Final Thoughts

John Wick is fictional.

But the investigation principles hiding underneath the action scenes are surprisingly real.

The films reinforce the importance of:

• observation

• preparation

• timelines

• environmental awareness

• system thinking

• evidence gathering

• understanding pressure

• analysing failed protections

At the same time, they also highlight the danger of revenge-driven thinking.

Because investigations are not about punishment.

They are about learning.

Modern investigation methodologies like ICAM recognise that incidents emerge from combinations of:

• organisational factors

• local conditions

• failed controls

• human performance influences

• system weaknesses

-not isolated bad people making isolated bad choices.

That is why the best investigators:

• remain objective

• avoid assumptions

• focus on evidence

• examine systems

• look beyond human error

• strengthen organisational defences

John Wick survives because he understands the system around him.

Great investigators improve safety because they do too.