When we find ourselves driving on an icy road, our attention to detail becomes acute. We see every dark patch on the roadway and game plan how we will respond if our wheels were to slip or slide. We accept that the threat of losing control is real and focus our attention and actions to avoid a bad outcome.
I would separate situational awareness into two components: 1) Vigilance - the ability to detect what is going on around you; and 2) Decision making - what you ultimately do with the information at hand. Vigilance seems to be hardwired in people and thus harder to develop. However, decision-making is a skill that people can learn and through practice get better at fairly quickly. In my experience, these two components are not highly correlated with each other.
I first started my career conducting job analyses for The Gas Company in Los Angeles during the late 90s and early 00's. Vigilance turned out to be an important predictor in job performance. High vigilance was required for power plant operators, heavy equipment operators, even meter readers (watch out for dogs, don't get hit by cars) but not for jobs that required more specific focus and attention a single tasks such as pipefitters, welders, billing clerks, and drafters.
David, what would you think the regular routine that can be practiced that develops vigilance as a byproduct. Agree that it might be a bit more innate than learning good decision making process, but for someone who wants to increase their capacity to be vigilant... what is the practice or behavior?
I've reread the Habit books by Duhigg, Fogg, and Clear recently. In one of them, there is a story of a Japanese train operation where the employees practice a 'point and say out loud' technique that is used to increase vigilance and reduce errors. I think a leader could adapt this pretty easily even if they visually focus on stuff just say what it is in their head. However, I think the physical aspect of pointing and saying out loud is more powerful. Checklists are another good thing. Obvious visual reminders help, and staging (or removing) objects in your environment.
I would separate situational awareness into two components: 1) Vigilance - the ability to detect what is going on around you; and 2) Decision making - what you ultimately do with the information at hand. Vigilance seems to be hardwired in people and thus harder to develop. However, decision-making is a skill that people can learn and through practice get better at fairly quickly. In my experience, these two components are not highly correlated with each other.
I first started my career conducting job analyses for The Gas Company in Los Angeles during the late 90s and early 00's. Vigilance turned out to be an important predictor in job performance. High vigilance was required for power plant operators, heavy equipment operators, even meter readers (watch out for dogs, don't get hit by cars) but not for jobs that required more specific focus and attention a single tasks such as pipefitters, welders, billing clerks, and drafters.
David, what would you think the regular routine that can be practiced that develops vigilance as a byproduct. Agree that it might be a bit more innate than learning good decision making process, but for someone who wants to increase their capacity to be vigilant... what is the practice or behavior?
I've reread the Habit books by Duhigg, Fogg, and Clear recently. In one of them, there is a story of a Japanese train operation where the employees practice a 'point and say out loud' technique that is used to increase vigilance and reduce errors. I think a leader could adapt this pretty easily even if they visually focus on stuff just say what it is in their head. However, I think the physical aspect of pointing and saying out loud is more powerful. Checklists are another good thing. Obvious visual reminders help, and staging (or removing) objects in your environment.