The Grace of Failing Small
When our best option is the icy Atlantic waters trying to avoid them may mean we end up there.
It seems that when people in High Potential Consequence situations and environments fail big it is because there is a reticence to fail small. We are shaped, in our culture to go for broke. Much of our entertainment is around the hero taking on impossible odds and winning every single time. This has an impact on many of us. My assessment here is not at all a judgment of the decision maker, but rather a hard look at our culture. I see “going for it” as an issue that needs attention across nearly all industries.
My work is a high-resolution dive into human factors. Because of this I can now see how we humans show up in the decision-making process and the challenges that we all bring with us to potentially consequential arenas. I not only understand this from a theoretical point of view. I understand it from failing big myself.
There is a long list of reasons we fail big which are important to understand so that we can know ourselves. The overarching issue is as humans we have a deep reticence to failing small, the avoidance of the pain of failing small looms large at times over our decisions. Yet in refusing to fail small we put ourselves at greater risk of failing big.
In March of 2009 A Sikorsky S92-A helicopter was en route to the Hibernia oil rig with 18 persons on board including the crew. Fifty-five kilometres over the Atlantic Ocean the oil pressure gauge read that they lost all oil pressure. Yet, the temperature gauge was reading normal. They turned around and descended to 1000’. The decision the pilot faced was either to try to stay high enough so that the machine could land on the ground, or to prepare to ditch in the Atlantic Ocean. If ditching was the aim, they would need to descend to 100’ so that a controlled landing was possible. Everyone on board was wearing survival suits. The pilot decided to go for the coast and land.
The problem with failing small in this case is the potential harsh shame if there is only an oil pressure sensor problem, not a complete lack of oil in the gearbox. Remember. . . we are shaped, in our culture to go for broke. The problem with going for land is that if it is a complete lack of oil, making it to terra firma is an impossible prospect, and we will lose the aircraft and all of the passengers. The checklist suggested ditching.
Failing small means that we turn around long before reaching the summit, because we have too many symptoms of altitude sickness. Failing small means that we pull the boat into safe harbor, when we see an approaching storm. Failing small means that we land our aircraft on the Hudson River rather than trying to land at La Guardia.
Failing small requires a whole host of human qualities to which we all aspire. Qualities like social courage, humility, acceptance and being at peace with ourselves and the choices we make. Failing small means that we might live to experience other people’s criticisms of our choices. This takes a different kind of courage than going for it.
