Quote:
Originally Posted by Dockhead
...
There is an awkward stage of the development of pilots, half way between being a beginner and being seasoned, where most fatal accidents occur. I think it's more like this.
There are different kinds of self-confidence. ...
The bad kind of self-confidence can be exacerbated in newly-minted Yachtmasters by an exaggerated idea of what the qualification means. Like a law degree -- a Yachtmaster qualification is the BEGINNING, not the end of the road of learning. You might have started at zero, but you're not a hero yet. |
Just picked this part of Dockhead's to quote but there were other poster's that made me think about what I am
posting.
One of my careers has yearly
training that has to be done year after year after year. Some of the
classes are new each year, some are the same, year after year after year.
I still learn something ever time I take one of the
classes I have been taking for too many decades. Last year, I learned something that I wish I knew decades ago. Almost basic it was. I was practicing and another person was having problems. I kept my mouth shut and ears open and the instructor said to the other person to try to do it this way. So I did.
Unreal difference it made. I have shared that itty bitty technique with other people who then had the same reaction I did. The instructor had just learned this little twekk on YouTube.
Like within the last hour or so.
So the part of this discussion of taking RYA classes after
ASA, I could see value in that because it would be a different syllabus, but more importantly, different instructors. Course, one could take the
ASA classes again under a different instructor.
We were lucky that our ASA classes were taught by two different instructors. This could be a problem but it was not. One of the instructors, our first one, used to be a college professor, but is now the senior
captain on at a company running a couple small
cruise ships. Both instructors were great. Most Excellent. However, my wife was having trouble
learning from the first instructor. Not sure why since I was understanding what he was teaching. For whatever reason, she was not getting the lesson from this instructor. He could tell, and he was changing his teaching approach, but for some reason it was not clicking with her. The second instructor's approach worked. Go Figure.
The reason I learn something new in these classes I have been taking for decades is because it is a different instructor. They have different experiences, teach differently, and have different approaches which leads to something new to learn, even with the same subject.
Confidence. In some professions, one gets out of
training and does things by the book. The training can be to prevent worst case situations, situations that many will never see. The problem is that over time, one can forget the training. One could say this is being lazy, or complacency, forgetfulness, overconfidence, or some mixture of all. The reality is that people get away with it, whatever the reason, because they never run into the worst case scenario. The problem is, if they did run into worst case, then there a... is handed to them.
This often happens to mid career people because they are not doing as they were trained, and when things go pear shape, it does not end well. The person just out of training can often do better because the training is still ingrained. The person at the end of the career, as a group, seems to have ingrained the lessons, maybe from experience and/or learning from other's
mistakes.
But, and this is getting back to what Dockhead is talking about to some extent, some people just Can't Do, especially, when the Poo His the Fan. I have seen this over and over and over. I know people who are very smart. People who can do the book
work better than most, but when they have to apply the book
work, in a stressful situation, it gets ugly. They make
mistakes. They do the wrong thing.
It is something I have pondered for years. I don't know why it happens but I have seen it for decades. Making The Right decision, in a stressful situation, is simply difficult, if not impossible, for many people, irregardless of a tremendous amount of training.
Of course people are human. They make mistakes. But in some professions, you have to be right 100% of the time or you are in deep trouble. Not sure many people can be right 100% of the time in these situations...
The watchstander that Dockhead mentioned was just not able to do the job. Some people are like that. One can have all sorts of training, education, and mentoring but still can't be trusted to do the job. Even the simplest of things. Seen that over and over and over too.
Later,
Dan
Re: ASA vs RYA
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