NBAA Maintenance Management Conference
For Every Action There is an Equal and
Opposite Reaction … But it Doesn’t
Have to Stay That Way!
Dr. Shari L. Frisinger
CornerStone Strategies LLC
April 2013
The “What”
Everyday life in the
business aviation
maintenance world
Perpetual Change
3
Squeezing Pressure
4
Multi-Tasking
5
Begins your reaction
Adding to your reaction
6
Stressor
7
External
8
Internal
9
Eruption … or slow burn
10
11
What is Your MO?
Think of a time when you felt squeezing
pressures or impending conflict:
•Picture how you reacted
•Did your reaction provoke the other
person’s reactions?
•Was that a typical reaction for you?
•Who or what was in control of the
situation?
12
What is Your MO?
Think of a time when you felt squeezing
pressures or impending conflict:
•What was the source of stress? What
else? Anything else?
•How can you change your perception of
the stressors?
13
The “So What”
What happens when
left unchecked
Decreasing Awareness
15
Fatigue … Task Saturation
16
Conflict
17
Managing Stressful Situations
– The ability to maintain one’s composure
was instrumental to effectively handling
the situation
– Deliberate decision-making under
pressure was essential for a successful
outcome
18
Managing Stressful Situations
– Crew collaboration and communication:
critical in the ability to determine the
most effective course of action
– Situational awareness: encompassed
responses of self and others, in addition
to environmental factors
19
The “Why”
Thinking process
reflected in
communication style
Actions: Controlling or Adapting?
21
Interaction: Distancing or Connecting?
22
Think of a circle ….
23
Emotions
24
Root Cause
25
Phinneas Gage
26
What is your trigger?
27
Flight
29
Fright
30
Fight
31
We defend …
32
More reasons to fight …
33
The “Now What”
Stress Management and
Decision Making:
Problem
Solving &
Impulse
Control
Emotional
Self
Awareness
Emotional
Expression
35
Increasing Awareness
36
How many squares do you see?
37
Where do 4 and 9 belong?
8
11
15
5
14
17
6
10
13
3
12
2
38
Behavioral Situational Awareness
39
Pilot Dissertation Results
Lower in self awareness
Lower in emotional expression
(including empathy)
Higher in stress tolerance
Higher in problem solving (including
flexibility)
40
Other high scoring questions
•Prefer to work alone or make decisions
without asking for help, advice or opinions
from others.
•Am tenacious when faced with a problem
and proactively work to resolve it.
41
Negative Correlations:
•As the level of decision making increased,
thoughts of not performing well decreased.
•The higher the ability to interact well with
others, the lower the chance of ‘freezing’ or
over-reacting.
42
NBAA Safety Committee
• Top 10 Safety Risks:
- “We are safe enough”
- Task saturation
- Staying focused on task at hand
43
European Cockpit Association:
TEM and CRM essential abilities:
•Emotional stability and realistic self
reflection is essential
•Understand limitations, develop skills to
manage potential errors
•
44
The “How”
Maintaining your Composure
46
Questions, comments?
For more information, dissertation details
and implications contact
Dr. Shari L. Frisinger,
CornerStone Strategies LLC
www.ShariFrisinger.com