Pace
Another interesting discussion.
Day to day I am not convinced that pressure should have any place in the cockpit (well unless it involves small arms fire). I cant think why it should occur and if it does I would have thought the root cause of those problems needs establishing.
I can well imagine these days there are greater pressures before ever reaching the cockpit - getting to the airport can be bad enough and doubtless dealing with "clients" can send the blood pressure into territory which would cause your AME to raise an eyebrow.
I guess the secret is compartmentalise the pressure rather than taking it into the cockpit which might impair clarity of thought.
Yes, I guess some of us work better under pressure, even realish it. Whether or not it is a good thing long term I wonder. I read Biology at University - everything tells me that the human body is not well adapted to constant exposure to pressure; eventually I suspect most will suffer in one way or another.
I guess the other risk is do any of us know how much pressure we can cope with. The problem with piling it on is that if and when the breakdown comes it will be unexpected and devistating.
A friends son works for one of the top five firms of accountants. He is regularly working 15+ hour days including at week ends. He thought he was impressing the partners. At his last review they told him he was working too long hours. If he really needed to do those hours then either he wasnt up to the job or they had got it badly wrong in terms of the pressure they had brought to that young man. I applaud them.
We have all seen it in the cockpit. Load the pressure and eventually most every pilot eventually falls to pieces - it is just a question of how long. I have seen it cleverly done in the sym. The "instructor" piles on one failure after another; in the debrief the crew are horrified they didnt notice the engine fire alarm, but they really didnt, their attention was else where and the pressure sufficient to distract them.