Achieving Better Decision-Making and Growth by Transforming Mindsets and Organizational Cultures: Changing from Blame Cultures to Systematic Error Management in Aviation and Beyond

To err is human. Errors occur wherever people make decisions—privately, in organizations or for society. Leaders, individually or in teams, are regularly faced with unintended outcomes of their choices. How the leadership deals with these situations, the cultures they create or perpetuate around themselves and in their organizations, has an enormous impact on the quality and creativity of future decisions. How social innovation, in the form of changing mindsets, leadership behaviors, and organizational cultures, can lead to better decision-making and ultimately enormous industry growth is demonstrated in the way the aviation industry has addressed the problem of reoccurring human error in flight crews. The training concept of crew resource management (CRM) was developed, based on extensive research, to reduce decision-making errors and improve leadership teamwork. This approach resulted in a new mindset and leadership culture in flight operations globally. CRM is credited with the specular and continuing reduction in human error, without which the growth of the industry since the 1980s would not have been possible. Today, CRM principles and practices are applied in many high-reliability industries and progressively also in the medical sector. The core elements of CRM discussed here are (a) a nonpunitive, system-wide search for causes and improvements with a clear focus on learning, not punishment; (b) acceptance of human limitations, requiring vigilance in error-prone situations and participation by everyone; (c) effective communication, including respectful assertiveness in hierarchical relationships; (d) accurate and shared situation awareness; (e) workload and stress management; and (f) effective decision-making. All of these elements require (g) leadership and the cooperation of the whole team. Because of its origin in aviation, this approach is well-suited for hierarchical leadership contexts. Applying CRM is a leadership responsibility and will take time to transform an organization’s culture. The results of this innovation on the quality of interaction, communication, and decision-making, however, can be spectacular, as several outstanding examples of flight crew performance and teamwork in difficult situations have demonstrated in recent years.