A Life in Error by James Reason

Author:James Reason
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ashgate Publishing Limited
Published: 2013-03-14T16:00:00+00:00

The ‘Mental Economics’ of Violating

The German psychologist Petra Klumb1 investigated the costs and benefits of non-compliance. Where the latter outweigh the former, a violation is almost certain to occur. The perceived ‘balance sheet’ is shown below:

Perceived benefits: An easier way of working; saves time; more exciting; gets the job done; shows skill; meets a deadline; looks macho.

Perceived costs: Possible accident; injury to self or others; damage to assets; costly to repair; risk of sanctions; loss of job; disapproval of friends.

The benefits of non-compliance are immediate and the costs are remote from experience: violating often seems an easier way of working and for the most part brings no bad consequences. In short, the benefits of non-compliance are often seen to outweigh the costs.

The task here is not so much to increase the costs of non-compliance (by tougher sanctions and stiffer penalties), but to try to increase the perceived benefits of compliance. That means having procedures that are for the most part workable, correct and available. They should describe the quickest and most efficient ways of doing the job. Any lack of trust caused by inappropriate or clumsy procedures will increase the perceived benefits of violating. And sometimes, as we have already seen, the task can only be done by bending the rules.

I mentioned earlier that violations do not always have bad outcomes. In many cases, significant innovations and improved practices can only be achieved by those prepared to push the boundaries, and in some cases to exceed them.

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