Re: 1+1 < 1
Martin Pletzer (m.pletzer_at_aon.at)
Sat, 5 Dec 1998 18:45:59 +0100
Anybody remember the DANAIR 727 crashing in Tenerife (I don«t remember the
year)? After getting lost, partly caused by a misleading holding clearance,
the captain gets uneasy and feels, that something is starting to go wrong,
but he doesn«t exactly know what. The F/O says: "Supppose it`s alright."
This one reply probably killed the slowly rising situational awareness of
the captain ("If something doesn«t look or feel right, it probably isn«t.").
One sceptical remark by the F/O would probably have saved more than a
hundred lives, because that was exactly what the captain was waiting for.
The uncomfortable feeling slowly drove him towards changing a previous
decision. But nobody likes to alter a decision, we need a lot stronger
arguments to change a decision than to stick to it. The captains
uneasieness was a strong argument, but not strong enough: he would have
needed some help.
This is all a question of group dynamics in the decision making process.
Obviously it is not enough to know the "traps" to avoid falling into them.
But how can such negative group dynamics (1+1<1) be avoided? What training
programs would help? Does anybody know of special research in this area?
Any comments are highly appreciated!
Regards,
Martin Pletzer
Tyrolean Airways