Cold Comfort

This reminds of my brother who is an auto mechanic. My father used to say,"Good mechanics usually have terrible cars." Maybe you have noticed the same thing I have of mechanics on a budget. They usually have a personal vehicles at one time that a non-mechanic would be afraid to drive, but the mechanic owner would say, "nah, that's just this-and-that that's make that noise, no problem." As a programmer analyst, I can correlate to this story, in my own experience, as coding could get horrendous in trying to do a simple task of processing a payment, with more than half of the code dealing with all the wrong things that could avoid a bad payment. I can see why NASA requires a different level of leadership, but the mentality unfortunately as revealed by this article is so much the same. And unfortunately, unlike the mechanic driving his own, self-maintained vehicle, the shuttle doesn't have a floor jack and spare parts in the back of its trunk so it can pull over, crawl under its belly and try to fix "this-and-that" that's making that noise. Complacency has its place just to get through the day, although it could be misplaced, with great tragedy.

This reminds of my brother who is an auto mechanic. My father used to say,"Good mechanics usually have terrible cars." Maybe you have noticed the same thing I have of mechanics on a budget. They usually have a personal vehicles at one time that a non-mechanic would be afraid to drive, but the mechanic owner would say, "nah, that's just this-and-that that's make that noise, no problem." As a programmer analyst, I can correlate to this story, in my own experience, as coding could get horrendous in trying to do a simple task of processing a payment, with more than half of the code dealing with all the wrong things that could avoid a bad payment. I can see why NASA requires a different level of leadership, but the mentality unfortunately as revealed by this article is so much the same. And unfortunately, unlike the mechanic driving his own, self-maintained vehicle, the shuttle doesn't have a floor jack and spare parts in the back of its trunk so it can pull over, crawl under its belly and try to fix "this-and-that" that's making that noise. Complacency has its place just to get through the day, although it could be misplaced, with great tragedy.

This reminds of my brother who is an auto mechanic. My father used to say,"Good mechanics usually have terrible cars." Maybe you have noticed the same thing I have of mechanics on a budget. They usually have a personal vehicles at one time that a non-mechanic would be afraid to drive, but the mechanic owner would say, "nah, that's just this-and-that that's make that noise, no problem." As a programmer analyst, I can correlate to this story, in my own experience, as coding could get horrendous in trying to do a simple task of processing a payment, with more than half of the code dealing with all the wrong things that could avoid a bad payment. I can see why NASA requires a different level of leadership, but the mentality unfortunately as revealed by this article is so much the same. And unfortunately, unlike the mechanic driving his own, self-maintained vehicle, the shuttle doesn't have a floor jack and spare parts in the back of its trunk so it can pull over, crawl under its belly and try to fix "this-and-that" that's making that noise. Complacency has its place just to get through the day, although it could be misplaced, with great tragedy.

I read with great interest Ms. Ride's article and agree with her completely. "When the time has come to perform, the time to prepare has passed." These fundamental changes in our approach towards Risk Management must begin at the rudimentary level. As a Captain in a progressive fire department that is situated in a fast-growing jurisdiction, we have embodied the "empowerment" of each firefighter/EMT. The key, as Ms. Ride stated, is having the managerial environment ripe for feedback. This feedback needs to free from source bias and/or retribution. We find this level of managerial complacency or societal fear of being an outcast among our peers commonplace. No one wants to be the "One who cries wolf or chicken little," only to have the issue not materialize. However, Gordon Graham (Noted Risk manager) gives us a new twist on hindsight. "How could you not see it coming?????" Those of you that are familiar with Mr. Graham will know that it is the "train" that I am referring to. It is sad when we are caught off guard as a situation happens the first time, because we ignored the signs. But, it is an absolute travesty when it happens repeatedly because we ignored the signs AND history. This is a lesson that the fire service struggles with everytime a firefighter dies or has a close call. To quote Mr. Graham: "Is it a high risk, low frequency event? Uhhh Huh..... Then your risk management radar had better be in high gear." Or, as we have said for years, "Complacency Kills." Thank you again, Ms. Ride, for your article and calling additional attention to what should be a "common sense" subject, that isn't.

I read with great interest Ms. Ride's article and agree with her completely. "When the time has come to perform, the time to prepare has passed." These fundamental changes in our approach towards Risk Management must begin at the rudimentary level. As a Captain in a progressive fire department that is situated in a fast-growing jurisdiction, we have embodied the "empowerment" of each firefighter/EMT. The key, as Ms. Ride stated, is having the managerial environment ripe for feedback. This feedback needs to free from source bias and/or retribution. We find this level of managerial complacency or societal fear of being an outcast among our peers commonplace. No one wants to be the "One who cries wolf or chicken little," only to have the issue not materialize. However, Gordon Graham (Noted Risk manager) gives us a new twist on hindsight. "How could you not see it coming?????" Those of you that are familiar with Mr. Graham will know that it is the "train" that I am referring to. It is sad when we are caught off guard as a situation happens the first time, because we ignored the signs. But, it is an absolute travesty when it happens repeatedly because we ignored the signs AND history. This is a lesson that the fire service struggles with everytime a firefighter dies or has a close call. To quote Mr. Graham: "Is it a high risk, low frequency event? Uhhh Huh..... Then your risk management radar had better be in high gear." Or, as we have said for years, "Complacency Kills." Thank you again, Ms. Ride, for your article and calling additional attention to what should be a "common sense" subject, that isn't.

I read with great interest Ms. Ride's article and agree with her completely. "When the time has come to perform, the time to prepare has passed." These fundamental changes in our approach towards Risk Management must begin at the rudimentary level. As a Captain in a progressive fire department that is situated in a fast-growing jurisdiction, we have embodied the "empowerment" of each firefighter/EMT. The key, as Ms. Ride stated, is having the managerial environment ripe for feedback. This feedback needs to free from source bias and/or retribution. We find this level of managerial complacency or societal fear of being an outcast among our peers commonplace. No one wants to be the "One who cries wolf or chicken little," only to have the issue not materialize. However, Gordon Graham (Noted Risk manager) gives us a new twist on hindsight. "How could you not see it coming?????" Those of you that are familiar with Mr. Graham will know that it is the "train" that I am referring to. It is sad when we are caught off guard as a situation happens the first time, because we ignored the signs. But, it is an absolute travesty when it happens repeatedly because we ignored the signs AND history. This is a lesson that the fire service struggles with everytime a firefighter dies or has a close call. To quote Mr. Graham: "Is it a high risk, low frequency event? Uhhh Huh..... Then your risk management radar had better be in high gear." Or, as we have said for years, "Complacency Kills." Thank you again, Ms. Ride, for your article and calling additional attention to what should be a "common sense" subject, that isn't.

St. Petersburg Times has this quote today 22 Aug 2007 - "I think we will continue to lose foam. ... I think we'll still expect to see some things come off, and we'll have to analyze them," said NASA associate administrator Bill Gerstenmaier. Said Griffin: "On every flight we seem to have some interesting question that has to be resolved, or certainly it's a rare flight where we don't. And I expect that to continue." Hmmm... maybe they need to read this article. My second thought was that when I heard all the astronauts that rode the last ride say that they didn't give the tile another thought after NASA said it didn't need repair. Maybe they should rethink that too.

St. Petersburg Times has this quote today 22 Aug 2007 - "I think we will continue to lose foam. ... I think we'll still expect to see some things come off, and we'll have to analyze them," said NASA associate administrator Bill Gerstenmaier. Said Griffin: "On every flight we seem to have some interesting question that has to be resolved, or certainly it's a rare flight where we don't. And I expect that to continue." Hmmm... maybe they need to read this article. My second thought was that when I heard all the astronauts that rode the last ride say that they didn't give the tile another thought after NASA said it didn't need repair. Maybe they should rethink that too.

St. Petersburg Times has this quote today 22 Aug 2007 - "I think we will continue to lose foam. ... I think we'll still expect to see some things come off, and we'll have to analyze them," said NASA associate administrator Bill Gerstenmaier. Said Griffin: "On every flight we seem to have some interesting question that has to be resolved, or certainly it's a rare flight where we don't. And I expect that to continue." Hmmm... maybe they need to read this article. My second thought was that when I heard all the astronauts that rode the last ride say that they didn't give the tile another thought after NASA said it didn't need repair. Maybe they should rethink that too.

As each shuttle mission goes by, we read of individual tiles being torn off. From a non-engineer's standpoint, it would appear that caulking or a solid foam construction would be in order. Until such point as safety can be assured, we will continue to horrify children as we watch entire crews being blown to bits. I hope that the data being gained is worth having children being launched into adulthood prematurely.

As each shuttle mission goes by, we read of individual tiles being torn off. From a non-engineer's standpoint, it would appear that caulking or a solid foam construction would be in order. Until such point as safety can be assured, we will continue to horrify children as we watch entire crews being blown to bits. I hope that the data being gained is worth having children being launched into adulthood prematurely.

As each shuttle mission goes by, we read of individual tiles being torn off. From a non-engineer's standpoint, it would appear that caulking or a solid foam construction would be in order. Until such point as safety can be assured, we will continue to horrify children as we watch entire crews being blown to bits. I hope that the data being gained is worth having children being launched into adulthood prematurely.

Thank you for such a great, succinctly written article. It is clear, direct and profound. It makes me think about the complacency in my life, let alone in regards to the space shuttle. I recognized immediately that if I am complacent about the "this and that - similar to a mechanic" then it is just a matter of the 25th time or the 100th time that I would want to live with. I am not willing to see a 25th time in my life. This has been a tremendously valuable wake up call for me. Thanks to all of you - author, publishers and teams who brought this to the forefront of my attention. With gratitude! B : )

Thank you for such a great, succinctly written article. It is clear, direct and profound. It makes me think about the complacency in my life, let alone in regards to the space shuttle. I recognized immediately that if I am complacent about the "this and that - similar to a mechanic" then it is just a matter of the 25th time or the 100th time that I would want to live with. I am not willing to see a 25th time in my life. This has been a tremendously valuable wake up call for me. Thanks to all of you - author, publishers and teams who brought this to the forefront of my attention. With gratitude! B : )

Thank you for such a great, succinctly written article. It is clear, direct and profound. It makes me think about the complacency in my life, let alone in regards to the space shuttle. I recognized immediately that if I am complacent about the "this and that - similar to a mechanic" then it is just a matter of the 25th time or the 100th time that I would want to live with. I am not willing to see a 25th time in my life. This has been a tremendously valuable wake up call for me. Thanks to all of you - author, publishers and teams who brought this to the forefront of my attention. With gratitude! B : )