JUST PLANE CULTURE
use a checklist. Do you sense professional arrogance there? It’s been said that pilots are buried with their mistakes and doctors bury their mistakes. This explains why pilots will use a checklist as a normal course of business but medical doctors won’t.
Despite this early resistance, there has been a behavioral shift in the medical ranks and there appear to be checklists in use. You will see nurses carrying clipboards and asking your name and date of birth to verify their records. They don’t assume anymore. It has become standard practice at most hospitals to map out an incision or amputation on the person’s body and have it checked by another doctor — just like us with an inspector buy off . Failure to follow prescribed procedures has been our nemesis in aviation and it is the same in medical practice and other industries. We are not alone in this practice so you shouldn’t be surprised that aviation maintenance technicians don’t follow instructions when it is a global problem. If you wanted to graph this phenomenon it would run
from professional confi dence at one end to professional arrogance at the other. Yes, we get comfortable in our positions over time and we tend to do things by memory that we have done a hundred times previously. We become confi dent in our abilities. The problem with us as individuals is that we don’t know our abilities accurately. We have a clear idea of the boundaries in what we can and cannot do but the
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large mix of gray before we get to that “cannot do” point that gets us in trouble. As aircraft mechanics we have this “let me give it a try” attitude. We are not daredevils by any means but we have this drive to get the job done. It could be a tendency to please the customer or the boss, a personal challenge or just inner satisfaction, but we over judge our abilities and wind up swimming in those tumultuous gray waters.
OVER CONFIDENCE Our confi dence in ourselves is admirable and a true mark of the professionals that we are — but it can also get us into trouble when our ability and our confi dence don’t match. Over-confi dence is bolstered and tempered by successful outcomes. If we skip step fi ve we can shave 30 minutes off the job. If we are successful once, it gives us the confi dence to do it twice then three times and so on. Each successful outcome increases our confi dence to continue to work around the instructions until that one day comes when it doesn’t. Over-confi dence is exceeding our ability beyond our capability but with the intent of a successful outcome. Over- confi dence’s primary focus is success and is a benevolent action. We can be driven to that gray area and skirt the rules and regulations because of a lack of resources and feel somewhat secure that we can accomplish the task. Half of the Dirty Dozen are a lack of something. In order to compensate, we have to either slow production or deviate from standard practice. Arrogance, on the other hand, is over-confi dence exceeding our ability beyond our capability but with a disregard for the potential outcome. It comes down to intent. With professional arrogance a successful outcome is secondary because success will refl ect their actions and a failure can be pawned off to something or someone else. The primary focus is on posturing and is a narcissistic action. We are not protected from error because of our experience, our training, or our tenure on the job. We must maintain our vigilance and beware of our susceptibility.
Patrick Kinane is an FAA-certifi cated A&P with IA and commercial pilot with instrument rating. He has 50 years of experience in aviation maintenance. He is an ASQ senior member with quality auditor and quality systems/organizational excellence manager certifi cations. He is an RABQSA-certifi ed AS9100 and AS9110 aerospace industry experienced auditor
and ISO9001 business improvement/quality management systems auditor. He earned a bachelor of science degree in aviation maintenance management, a master’s of science degree in education, and a Ph.D. in organizational psychology. Kinane is presently a senior quality management systems auditor for AAR CORP and a professor of organizational behavior at DeVry University.
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