When Failure Isn’t an Option
Most of us would strongly prefer not to fail, but for some people and corporations, failure means more
than the account balances dipping into the red or dashed personal ambition. It can mean loss of life,
perhaps on a massive scale. Psychologists have examined the strategies used by organizations that cannot
afford even a single error, and their findings are illuminating for each of us, no matter how high or low the
stakes of our daily endeavors.
One of the most interesting studies comes from Dr. Karl E. Weick, a psychologist at the University of
Michigan’s business school. His subjects were workers in emergency rooms, aircraft carriers, air traffic
control towers, nuclear reactor centers, and fire engine companies. He called these groups “high-
reliability organizations,” or HROs—meaning that their services are so vital and precise that they are all
forced
to find ways
not
to fail. One common characteristic of these well-functioning teams, said Dr.
Weick, is that they “distinguish themselves by being able to detect incredibly weak warning signs and
taking strong, decisive action.”
For example, the pilots who take off and land from the decks of U.S.
Navy aircraft carriers are
handpicked for their flinty nerves and unflappable judgment. There are many highly technical, automatic
controls to help ensure safe trips as well. But when you’re landing planes atop a ship in the middle of the
ocean, one error, even a tiny one, could spell disaster. Officers and crew are trained
not
to assume the
system will run perfectly on its own. Instead, they look for the slightest signal that things are going awry.
They listen for subtle signs of tension in pilots’ voices when they circle the ship to dump excess fuel.
They walk the ship many times a day looking for “foreign objects”—anything that could be sucked into the
jet’s engine—basing their scrutiny on the assumption that anything that can go wrong, will. They also
devote rigorous attention to the nature of each landing. On the deck of the aircraft carrier, there are four
arresting wires that can catch the plane’s tailhook. A pilot strives not to catch
the first or second wire
(because it would mean they’d landed too soon) or the fourth (which is unnervingly close to missing the
deck and falling into the ocean). The third wire is ideal. Those landings that catch the first, second, or
fourth wires are reviewed so that the pilot and crew can spot and correct the causes of the deviation.
We can all implement high-reliability strategies for ourselves, bringing this kind of meticulous attention
to life’s faint warning flares. A few years ago, I was teaching a weekend course on creativity when I met
Amy and Frank. Over the course of the three-day session, I got to know this husband and wife fairly well,
and at one point Amy volunteered that she wished Frank would see me for treatment of his road rage. Her
husband agreed that he yelled at other drivers too often (and since they lived in traffic-clogged Los
Angeles, there were plenty of opportunities for it) but felt that the problem
was too small to warrant a
psychologist’s attention.
I suggested to Frank that this seemingly insignificant problem was worth his attention. Excellent studies
have suggested that people who respond to life’s challenges with anger are
seven
times more likely to die
prematurely from heart disease than those with the same lifestyle (including similar exercise and dietary
habits) but different temperament. I also pointed out that if Frank was sitting in his comfortable car—one
that he’d equipped with all the latest entertainment options, with the woman of his dreams beside him—
and still could not find a way to enjoy the ride, he may have trouble creating happiness during the bigger
challenges life would inevitably send his way. Why not use the car as a classroom for learning to control
his moods and his focus?
The cardiac-risk statistics were a wake-up call for Frank. I suspected that his new awareness alone
would put a damper on his angry responses while driving. I also thought he might benefit from a strategy I
use in UCLA’s program to reduce cardiac-risk behaviors: Each time he got behind the wheel, Frank was
to perform one small favor for another driver. Now, instead of tensely surveying the road for “jerks” who
might cut him off, Frank’s focus was on finding an opportunity to wave another driver into his lane.
(Another technique is to play soft music instead
of listening to the news, so that your mind is being
relaxed instead of stimulated.) Before long, Frank reported that his patience and good humor were at an
all-time high—and not just in the car. And he was grateful to Amy for spotting his “small problem” early
on.
But I realize that Amy may have been unusually eagle-eyed about spotting small problems and
intuitively recognizing their significance. For those of us who aren’t working
under the pressure of the
life-and-death situations faced by HROs, it can be hard to see the little irritations—let alone appreciate
their potential for wreaking major havoc. Let me show you three circumstances in which
all
of us are
especially likely to miss life’s small problems. Then you can compensate for them with extra vigilance,
just as you compensate for blind spots in your car with mirrors and frequent visual checks.
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