Task Fixation
Posted By Rob Millard - 0 Comments -
A pretty horrifying movie clip. Nobody would disagree. What is it that makes a pilot fly a perfectly good airplane into the ground? In this case, a highly experienced, field rank pilot with three equally senior colleagues on board?
All too often, it is what the Air Force calls "task fixation." That is, the pilot is so focused on aiming at his target, or executing a turn, or whatever, that he or she fails too notice that the plane is banking too steeply, or that the ground is approaching too rapidly.
A sombre lesson for professionals who are so focused on serving their clients, that they fail to pay attention to changes in their firm or it's market. It is not often that a firm actually 'crashes and burns' (although recent law firm examples such as Coudert Brothers, Altheimer & Gray, Broebeck and Arter & Hadden clearly show that it is not unheard of.) It is far more common for a situation to be saved but only after serious damage is done because danger signals are not heeded before they translate into crisis.
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