Yep, Peter Senge has something to say about delivering training. So,
too, has Dr Edward de Bono. He's the English bloke who wrote about
'Lateral Thinking' (and heaps more as well). Let's see where lateral
thought takes a few of the ideas that have surfaced so far in this
(excellent) debate.
Does it all have to be done in a cockpit or formal assembly situation?
Trainers for decades now have been analysing work tasks and defining
learning objectives. Where skills are involved, there are many ways of
exercising them outside the primary place of employment. If people
need, for example, particular inter-personal skills to perform
effectively as a crew member, then there is a whole range of (another
example) outdoor group exercises that will instill/re-inforce such
skills. Talk about low-cost!
Aviation professionals need to be able to cope with confusion. This is
a basic cognitive skill that can be practised in a host of places and
ways, and again, not necessarily in the workplace or classroom.
The crm training cycle for all of the airline pilots I know is twice a
year. This is important cognitive fitness stuff, vital to performance
in an emergency. In my view, as is the case in maintaining physical
fitness, the vital cognitive skills should be exercised at least three
times a week. Clearly, we are going to need a far wider range of
training activities and opportunities, like stuff people can do at
home, on weekends, in a hotel room.
Debriefing has been mentioned. In my experience, crm and LOFT training
debriefing merely puts on display the Thespian brilliance of seasoned
aviators. Talk to them over a few beers and it's, 'Mate, the crew know
I'm in charge and they'll do exactly what I tell them!' Do without it.
If the aims of an exercise are clear, then individuals can debrief
themselves. You thus respect their intelligence and capacity for
honest introspection. Sure, it sounds risky, but you're not there
looking over their shoulder when they really need to perform. They
have to learn self-criticism and consequential self-development. (A
checklist will certainly assist a self-debrief.)
Uniforms? It is noted that uniforms create authority gradients in the
simulator. They will in the cockpit, too. The effects procured may be
positive, but they also may be negative. Note that the airline
uniform's gold bars imitate the insignia of the most authoritarian and
autocratic (well, historically, at any rate) of the Armed Forces - the
Navy. Hmmm. Perhaps we should do without them?
Practise (cognitive) incapacitation. Sure, the stats don't necessarily
show it as a major cause - but that may be misleading. There's no red
light that comes on in the forehead that says, 'Warning, brain
overload!' Review of major accidents shows plenty of evidence of
unaccountable cognitive performance. Overload or depleted performance
due to near-overload must be seen as a possible major contributor in
many instances. As with confusion, it can and should be practised.
Tricky stuff, to be sure, but also a classic for 'outside' exercises
and training.
In his 'Learning Organisation' writings, Peter Senge uses a model
comprising two circles (let's call them 'A' and 'B') connected by an
arrow. He calls the arrow 'Creative Tension'. This is the model Tony
Kern adverted to - learning best occurs when you awaken within
individuals the desire to get from A to B (said progress being, for
example, to adopt a new way of thinking), rather than to 'push' ideas
on them. The art in crafting training experiences, especially for the
'hard cases', lies in how you generate the creative tension. For
instance, the 'step' can't be too large, or they'll never try it, nor
should it be too close, lest they put off forever getting started, and
so on. The most powerful learning is that which is self-induced.
'Creative Tension' is more commonly known as 'motivation'. And it is
getting easier to generate. When annual fitness testing comes to
include cognitive and physical as well as medical, pilots will need to
be in good shape (note 'when', it's no longer 'if'). They get there
with regular exercise. We can help by prescribing exercise routines
that can be done daily, not just twice a year.
Do Bono never really believes people will do exactly what he
recommends. He's content if he just gets them thinking differently,
and creatively, about innovation.
Cheers
Doug