Decision Making And Hazardous Attitudes

I would like to borrow something from my aviation community that I believe all of us drivers can benefit from. It's called Decision making and hazardous attitudes.

Basically there are five different human attitudes which can and will affect how a pilot/driver makes a decision. Understanding how they apply to your flying/driving is important. These attitudes are:

•Anti-Authority: "Don't tell me!" - When people have this attitude they may resent having someone tell them what to do or they think of rules and regulations as silly or unneeded. •Impulsive: "Do something quickly!" - This is what people do when they feel the need to do something, anything and now. Usually they do the first thing that pops up in them. •Invulnerability: "It won't happen to me!" - Accidents happen only to other people. Thinking this may lead to taking more unnecessary risks. •Macho: "I can do it!" - These guys we all know. Trying to prove that they are better than anyone else and taking more risks. Both sexes are susceptible to this attitude. •Resignation: "What's the use?" - These people think that they do not make a great deal of difference in what happens to them. When things are going well they think: "Good luck". And when things are not so well, they seem to think that someone is out to get them.

Most people have a mix of these attitudes with them since the day they were born and some attitudes are more prominent than others. It makes them what they are, interesting!

Now, here are the antidotes.

Hazardous Attitude Antidote

Anti-authority: Don't tell me! Follow the rules, they are usually right. Do not let your independence bend the rules to get your way, as it will backfire.

Impulsive: Do something quickly! Not so fast, think first. Most situations in the ****pit do not require 1 second snap decisions and the pilot has time to evaluate and choose an action.

Invulnerability: It won't happen to me! It could happen to me. Because you never had an engine fail(in the air) or weather turn bad it does not mean it will never happen to you.

Macho: I can do it! Taking changes is foolish. Although a certain amount of confidence is required for flying/driving and you are feeling more capable when your skills improve, its important to keep a realistic view.

Resignation: What's the use? I'm not helpless, I can make a difference. Sometimes outside pressures will push you to leave the final go no-go decision to an external factor in stead of keeping to a safety mindset and decide for yourself if a flight/trip is safe.

Balanced It is doubtful that anyone could fly an airplane without a balance of these attitudes. The perfect pilot/driver (if there is such a pilot/driver) has a mix of equally balanced characteristics. But as no one is perfect some of these characteristics will be stronger than others in a person.

Conclusion To prevent one of these attitudes becoming too dominant or stronger than others, you need to remember the antidotes for each of them. And I mean by heart! So that they are immediately available to you when you need them.

Although you need to bear in mind that recognizing your own character attitudes or peculiarities can be difficult at times, it helps when someone explains your actions as they saw them. Or at least spend some time on self reflection, rethink what you did and why.