If the CRM developers can't come to an agreement on the scope and focus of
CRM, we can hardly expect the thousands of crew members who receive CRM
training to define it. According to the results of a 1997 study, the crews
apparently haven't.
The January 1997 survey I conducted in collaboration with Navy researchers
indicates that line pilots believe CRM and Human factors to both be
"training to get along better". Sadly, many of the folks who hold the
purse strings to these programs share these misguided beliefs about CRM.
We have only ourselves to blame. The recent discussions on this listserver
about the definition of CRM are a reflection of how the misunderstandings
and misinterpretations developed with line pilots and managers. If a
manager asks a hundred experts and gets a hundred different definitions, it
only takes a little while before the managers quit listening to the
experts. The prevailing perception with line pilots and managers that CRM
is small group dynamics training is, unfortunately, the legacy of the first
generation CRM programs.
When a CRM program seeks to "do it all", it ends up doing nothing. If a
program has fuzzy boundaries that no one can understand and altruistic
goals that can't be measured, it starts to sound more like a religion that
requires a leap of faith instead of an organizational program that can be
managed. Corporate programs based on a leap of faith and altruisms will
eventually die. It's happening with CRM right now. Saavy managers
generally do not base their decisions on a leap of faith. They usually do
not support what they cannot clearly define and measure. Managers will
also not support something that has no boundaries. We would all be doing
ourselves a favor by clearly defining the terms and the scope of these
programs.
I challenge the group to come up with one declarative sentence in crew
language for each of the following:
The definition of CRM.
The scope of a CRM program.
The definition of human factors
The scope of a human factors program
If this group cannot do it, I do not think it can be done....
Best Regards,
Vince Mancuso