Groupthink

Previously I was inspired when I learned that air travel safety changed significantly at some point because the goal switched from keeping accidents under a certain percentage to keeping them under a fixed absolute number. For example, if their goal is to keep accidents no higher than 2%, it means that as the number of flights increases, so does the number of allowable accidents. With a fixed number of accidents as a goal instead of a percentage, as the number of flights increases, the percentage of accidents goes down... meaning that the quality control system must learn what it takes to accomplish this... which is done by guaranteeing the allocation of the resources needed to diagnose and correct problems.

In the past the only opportunity I've had to see under the hood of this is when a big accident happens and eventually the results of the investigation are released to the media.

I recently found a youtube channel that is dedicated to looking closer at the everyday details of how the airline safety system works. The episode below is one that specifically caught my attention because it addresses a psychological phenomenon that is broadly applicable to all of society.



EliteAir Flight ELZ300 Runway Excursion During Takeoff at Austin Airport Amid High Winds - YouTube


Groupthink
Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome. Cohesiveness, or the desire for cohesiveness, in a group may produce a tendency among its members to agree at all costs. This causes the group to minimize conflict and reach a consensus decision without critical evaluation. Groupthink is a construct of social psychology but has an extensive reach and influences literature in the fields of communication studies, political science, management, and organizational theory, as well as important aspects of deviant religious cult behaviour.


Groupthink - Wikipedia


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