This panel will provide a refreshing evidence-based perspective that explores principles of patient safety that VALUE the abilities and contributions of surgeons and other healthcare workers. After all, it is humans that compensate for flawed systems that put patients at risk. For surgeons, the “sharp end” of patient care occurs literally at the end of a scalpel. But as we enlarge our perspective to include the surgical team, the operating room environment, and the organization in which they function, we find a multitude of factors that impact the safety and quality of patient care. Despite many obstacles, healthcare delivery usually succeeds BECAUSE OF, rather than despite, the capabilities of healthcare workers. Using a Safety-II lens, we seek to understand “what went well” and nurture adaptability, in contrast to the Safety-I approach, which seeks to identify “what went wrong” and implement barriers to prevent recurrence. Safe, effective healthcare delivery requires a combination of these approaches. Understanding and improving work system dynamics can contribute to improving patient outcomes. Enhancements may be local, such as attention to physical ergonomics during procedures, or may be on a larger scale, such as nurturing programs that facilitate learning and collaboration. Humans have unique abilities, such as pattern perception that informs diagnostic and treatment skills, and the ability to anticipate the consequences of interventions. We will address interventions such as integrating success analysis with root cause event analysis and discuss the capacities of resilient organizations. Surgeons work in complex, high risk, dynamic environments; we can optimize patient care in these environments by understanding system dynamics, compensating for our limitations, and taking advantage of our many abilities.