I could probably go on talking about crew resource management for a while, but what I’m hoping instead is that you realize what I’m trying to point out now and make a plan to investigate it further. CRM is a communication tool and it provides you an opportunity to improve performance through collaborative decision-making.
This isn’t an effort to undermine authority. CRM aims to take the information being observed by the others on your team and encourage participation in the event, to the point that we increase situational awareness.
When we place boundaries on communication because we perceive ourselves to be the sole source of appropriate information, we prohibit a valuable source of feedback. If your team fails because you failed to listen, it isn’t their fault, it is all yours.
But if you think CRM will only help you when things are going south, I’ll point this out to you; the more you use a tool, the more familiar you get with its intricacies. You can appreciate the feel of the tool, the balance, and you can judge the tool’s capabilities better. If you use incident command on a regular basis, when a big incident occurs, you are more fluid in implementing those skills. And likewise, if you use the skills and knowledge acquired through the everyday use of CRM, you will be more prepared when a critical event occurs to stop blocking out the input of others and to use your whole team to gather the data you need.
Don’t be so overwhelmed with your opinion of your expertise that you can’t listen to other views. That’s not a trait of a wise man; it is the folly of the clueless.
