The importance of human behaviors and culture in processes and projects...a lesson learned from NASA
One of the key findings in the investigation of the Challenger and Columbia Space Shuttle Accidents was that, despite a detailed review after  Challenger, the Columbia mission suffered from similar issues related to culture, decision-making, organizational causes and historical behaviors. In fact, four full chapters, almost the entirety of Part II of the Challenger Accident Cause Report, dealt with non-technical, behavioral issues. We can all learn from the NASA story by seriously considering how to objectively and regularly characterize the human side of our organizations to effect changes commensurate with business and stakeholder needs and requirements. When striving for Performance Excellence many organizations focus solely on tools and technology and often dismiss the importance of the so-called “soft skills”. The NASA investigations illustrate, in an extreme way, the consequences of discounting this importance. For most of us the consequences of execution failures manifest themselves as poor execution and performance with business consequences. In extreme cases they create dangerous and life threatening scenarios.In the end, the massive technological undertaking of manned space flight was not compromised in total by design or material flaws, but by the decision process and the culture that failed to keep up with the external demands of the program. Could NeuraTool have helped NASA?A Practical Discussion of how this applies to the markets we serve In today’s rapidly changing and dynamic business environment, technology is colliding with human resource on a daily basis. Performance gaps are created when humans create workarounds to technology solutions or violate process rules due to conflicting priorities. These types of anomalies and problems are very real root causes to missed performance targets. Process behaviors need to be understood so that their root causes are understood and dealt with to maximize the efficiency and performance requirements of a demanding business environment. This emerging field is defined as Behavioral Performance Intelligence (BPI). Behavioral Performance Intelligence is an important field of study. Identifying performance gaps related to the actions of human decisions, the degree to which they embrace (or do not embrace) policies, standards, technology and instructions are all critically important. How NeuraTool can Uncover and help Mitigate Behavioral Performance Gaps The first step in any problem solving scenario is to define the problem before trying to solve it. This applies at all levels of problem solving (Strategic, Organizational, Cultural, Tactical and Project). Typical assessments are executed by defining an appropriate sample of a target population, which is then subjected to interviewing (questioning) through a “person to person”, telephone or paper based survey. Observations and results are then compared (often subjectively) to a Body of Knowledge (BoK) or standard of some type. An “expert” (often a consultant) organizes the responses and creates a feedback report (usually a PowerPoint presentation). Some type of scoring or ranking is often employed to make the responses quantitative and easy to organize and prioritize. Inherent in these types of assessments is Measurement System Error (MSE) in three (3) basic forms. 1. Interviewer bias created by a) the natural knowledge and skills of the person conducting the interview / interpreting the results and, b) bias in their opinion about how things should or could be done based on their experience. This may lead them to ask questions or interpret results in a context that makes sense to them but not the interviewee or the organization under review. Reducing Measurement System Error (MSE) with NeuraTool NeuraTool effectively deals with the large degree of MSE in assessment systems. Designing A NeuraTool Assessment Organizations should link the need and purpose of an assessment to a critical path area. Topics and functions commonly assessed include: Quality, Safety, Operations, Regulatory Compliance, Engineering, Culture, Security and many others. Need should be closely correlated to items such as performance trends, new critical requirements, chronic problem areas, or a life changing event (accident or other major failure). Serving Behavioral Performance Intelligence Assessments In the provisioning and serving of assessments, communications is a key driver of success and accuracy. NeuraMetrics will help management clearly communicate the need for each respondent’s accurate answer by describing in business terms why the assessment is important. If respondents do not believe their input will be taken seriously, they will be less likely to spend adequate time and thought on their answers. NeuraTool Technology can enable several things to happen. With accurate and complete scored data now resident in an organized database, visual statistical analysis tools embedded in NeuraTool can be invoked to “see” patterns in the data, drill down to detailed causes, organize and sort data demographically and prioritize needed actions. Further, reports and information are stored and available for recall, further analysis and archive. For an in depth discussion about how NeuraTool can help your company: NeuraMetrics Inc. |