Forward thinking could be the ‘projection’ (third level) element of situation awareness.
Unfortunately many of the CRM texts only describe what situation awareness is and not how to achieve (or maintain) it.
Similarly, airmanship and experience are often described as vital elements of CRM, but the means of achieving the embedded skills for these elements are difficult to define.
Self reflection is an important aspect as it provides both the discipline to control our thinking (what we look at, when, what is important, and why), and the encoding or reinforcement of flight events in memory for future recall (experiences).
The more events that are memorised, then the greater number of options there will be for the pilot to consider in his projecting process. Comparing these events with knowledge of what is important in the situation (context), the easier and quicker it will be to relate the current situation with a particular option for the future.
Thus, some of the key points are to continuously acquire ‘technical’ aviation knowledge (be a professional), reinforce experiences through self and crew debriefing, gain and maintain the highest level of situation awareness (scan and monitor; plane, path, people), and improve mental discipline. The latter involves many skills of critical thinking that can be found on the web (Google), but few are actually taught in aviation.
Tactics? Remember:-
Habits are hard to break
Automation keeps its secrets
Distractions come in many forms
Expectations can reduce awareness
Reliable systems aren’t always reliable
Watch out when you are busy or bored
It’s hard to detect something that isn’t there
Things that take longer are less likely to get done right
If something doesn’t look or feel right, then it probably isn’t right
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