NON-TECHNICAL SKILLS: BUILDING CAPACITY Continued from page 47 captain sitting under two feet away, the captain’s stomach knotted with the realization that the gear weren’t extended. As the crew left the airplane and met airport firefighters, their eyes met in disbelief. The response to the gear-up land- ing was predictable, and most in the company agreed it was in line with the organization’s commitment to a just culture—after all, they completed an Aviation Safety Action Program report, and no one was being fired. Both pilots were taken off the line and sent for re-training. The re-training, as it so often does, focused on dem- onstration of approach and landing skill. To their credit, the simulator instructors made sure to increase task saturation while they evaluated the tasks assigned. Reflecting on the incident, though, the captain mused, “how could this happen... and what will practic- ing approaches do to help us?” The airline, though, was satisfied. The loop was closed; the captain deemed proficient; and, after the necessary paperwork was completed, both pilots returned to the line—with no new tools in hand to prevent another incident. What are Non-Technical Skills? The gear-up incident is a story we’ve heard before; and, although the details change to describe a surgi- cal instrument left inside a patient, a transfer valve left open, or a trans- posed digit in a calculation, the theme is the same—highly-qualified, proficient, well-intentioned people sometimes make mistakes. As in the accident described above, these mistakes are often disguised as technical ones. After all, the pilot only had to select the gear lever in the down position. As the captain won- dered, though, was the issue a mis- understanding of the need to extend the landing gear? Certainly not. This highlights the importance of thinking about the complex systems we live and work in as requiring another set of skills that complement our techni- cal capability—non-technical skills. Broadly, non-technical skills are the critical abilities to manage and connect the technical proficiency required to do normal—or sometimes abnormal—work. Flin, O’Connor, and Crighton (2008) describe non- technical skills as “the cognitive, social, and personal resource skills that complement technical skills, and contribute to safe and efficient task performance.” Non-technical skills are sometimes referred to as human factors skills, or even as resource management, though non-technical skills (NTS) is the more comprehen- sive term. In aviation, as in other highly- specialized fields, we often promote people on measures that heavily weigh technical performance. For instance, experience as a maintainer might lead to a quality assurance role, floor supervisor, and eventually to a job as the Director of Maintenance. Experienced dispatcher? After a while, the opportunity to manage a team of dispatchers might come along. Chief pilots have put in their time flying the line, but may still struggle with managing a team of people. The expectation is: with ten- ure comes advancement in education and managerial capacity. However, these promotion patterns regularly happen with only rudimentary exami- nation of non-technical skill, often only as part of an annual performance appraisal. The good news is that non- technical skills—generally inclusive of things like situation awareness, decision-making, communication, teaming, leadership, stress manage- ment, and managing fatigue—can be learned and evaluated. Even better, the payoff from focusing on devel- opment of non-technical skills, in addition to technical ones, is better leadership, clearer communication, and a more resilient team. Connection to Culture and Performance NTS have often been referred to as “soft skills,” but that grossly under- represents the importance of these skills as a critical counterpart to the technical aptitude we so often stress in aviation. Without the context for action that NTS provide, even the most technically-proficient operators tend toward only average perfor- mance. NASA, for instance—long distinguished as a center for techni- cal expertise—spends a tremendous amount of time and energy evaluating the non-technical “right stuff” among their astronaut candidate pool. After all, in space, team function and stress management often become more important than mechanical ability. 48 Aviation Business Journal | Spring 2019
