Avionics News April 2018 - 13

In many cases, your thoughts are based on assumptions.
I routinely ask managers who make the risk decisions in
their organization: Who decides what is acceptable and not
acceptable? And the answer is usually they, the managers, do.
Unfortunately, they don't! It is the rank and file who determines how good something needs to be, what the immediate
priorities are, what risks to take, and where to cut corners.
Management only makes those decisions when they actively
and aggressively communicate the expectations, schedules and
priorities. Sure, you have a morning scheduling meeting. Yes,
but the customer is anxiously waiting on their plane at 4 p.m.;
now where is the communication? Without regular communication, I must rely on my assumptions. Right or wrong, they
are what guides me until something goes wrong and I am given
new information, and therefore, adjust my assumptions.
What were you thinking? As we ask, we can easily extend
that to where is your mind, your thoughts as you are doing a
critical task? Do you remember safetying the flight controls?
Did you check the cable tension? Did you connect the ground?
I'm sure I did, it is a routine step; I always do! But were you
distracted?
I routinely hear people talking about multitasking. In fact,
it is so common of a statement that I read a help wanted
ad recently where multitasking was part of the job description. Well, I am of the belief that multitasking is not routine
and is not actually achievable. However, I am of the camp
of microtasking, where you have so much on your plate at
any given time that you will microfocus on multiple tasks
in quick succession while never giving any one task the
necessary focus needed for a critical step, thereby relying on
habit to carry you though.
The world around us has plenty of distractions. Our families,
birthdays, anniversaries, illnesses, deaths; the list is endless.
And yes, we seem to push through. Our homes can distract us:
repairs, leaks, projects, remodeling, parties and events. These
all can take our focus away from the task at hand; maybe
a critical task at hand. Or how about our finances? Paying
the bills: the house, car, or personal loan payments? Maybe
medical bills? Or maybe school expenses? All are distractors,
stressors that can cause you to not focus on the task at hand.
We used to believe that we could simply compartmentalize
our lives, turn it off when we got to work and leave it at home.
And vice versa, we could leave work at work and not bring it
home. But as we know, both concepts, while ideal in the perfect world, seldom are achieved in the real world.
We can try to focus on the task at hand, but we are easily
distracted. And when we are distracted, we have that micro,
short-term focus on something other than the critical task. Your
mind is not on the task at hand, but rather on the distracted
subject, even if only for a moment.
Maybe the focus drifts when you relax just a bit - perhaps as
you wait for the final flight control check. You stand behind the

aircraft watching the ailerons, mindlessly thinking about family, homes or bills, or maybe it was your date last night. And
when the flight controls move, you see and acknowledge that
the flight controls moved. Unfortunately, you missed that they
moved in the wrong direction. In these short-term focuses, our
mind tells us what we are expecting to see.
Or what about other distractions? Your co-workers, your
boss, the cellphone? You are working on a critical task and a
co-worker asks for help. You drop what you were doing and
go offer a helping hand. When you come back to the task, you
forget to finish the job; forget to torque and safety the bolt;
forget to install the cotter key; forget to secure the wires. This
happens too often.

...When we are distracted, we have
that micro, short-term focus on
something other than the critical task.
And what about your cellphone? They say that driving while
talking on the phone is like driving while intoxicated. You're
distracted and not completely focused on driving. I find the
animated talkers the best; they will have the phone crooked in
their neck while their hand is animating everything they say.
They get quite emotional. It is like watching a silent picture
from the 1930s, except they are driving 60 miles per hour.
How does this translate to the hangar? You are doing a critical
task, at the critical step and your daughter calls; your spouse
calls; your golf buddy is checking to see if you're still on for
Saturday morning. And what happened to your job, the task
you were working on? Did you finish it? Torque the hoses?
Safety the bolts? I'm sure I did. But then I didn't! Where was
my mind? What was I thinking?
Where is management in this conversation? Do you rely on
the adage that ignorance is bliss? What I don't know won't hurt
me. But it may hurt your business! Do you have an open conversation with your employees so you know where their mind
is? Do you know their stressors and issues that may distract
them at work?
I wish I could tell you there was a magic formula to make
all of this go away, but there isn't. Home will come to work,
and work will come home. Co-workers, bosses and family will
interrupt you. What you did last night and what you plan to do
tomorrow will always kidnap your thoughts. But when you are
doing critical tasks, you must ask yourself, what am I thinking?
Am I taking the time to do the job right? Am I using the
right equipment? Am I minimizing distractions? Do I have the
necessary knowledge, skills and abilities for this task? What
does management expect of me?
And ask yourself: Where is my mind? What am I thinking? q
avionics news

april

2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News April 2018