Originally Posted by
ATFQ
We should guard against becoming consumed by process, and trying to come up with a process for everything - in some misguided attempt to reduce risk to zero. In the end we would end up with people who stop thinking for themselves, and as a consequence risk actually increases. There is a balance point. We need to leave enough latitude for people to show initiative in striving to improve within a relatively broad framework. Even AP8000 (the RAF manual of Air Safety) says (in the Chief of the Air Staff's foreword) that 'risk aversion is not acceptable'. If we want our young people to become 'agile, adaptable and capable' then we need to give them sufficient space to 'grow'. That entails an environment of controlled risk and not some quest for zero risk (and thus zero gain).
I like the British Army's definition of adventurous training: "Challenging outdoor training for Service personnel in specified adventurous activities, involving controlled exposure to risk, in order to develop leadership, teamwork, physical fitness, moral and physical courage, among other personal attributes and skills vital to Operational capability." Some of the things that POBJOY has been talking about.
ATFQ hits the nail on the head. "Due Process" and "Risk Aversion" are becoming the daily hoops to have to jump through in order to achieve even the most simplest of tasks. The net result of the Haddon-Cave report, good as it was, has now produced a whole raft of people who are frightened of their own shadows. Worse still, whole government departments have reacted in a similar manner whereby everything is subject to due process and additional layers of administration. Does the job get done any better than it once did previously? In general terms the answer has to be a resounding NO.