Successfully countering mistakes in a team

Imagine the following team situation in a hospital: A “Dr. Schmidt” who does not work on the ward phones and orders the nurse on duty to administer a drug in a potentially lethal dose to a patient. How does she react? According to numerous studies, more than 60% of respondents would be ready to administer the dose, although taking instructions over the phone and from unknown persons is not allowed.

Why do employees violate such clear and sensible rules?

People have a number of ways to justify something to themselves that they don’t think is right: finding good reasons (“the doctor surely knows what he’s doing”), making comparisons (“others do it too”), downplaying the significance (“it won’t be that bad”), and stressing the importance of their actions (“I need to keep the place running”).

How can teams help ensure that rules are followed? 

A first answer to this question is given by Lieutenant Colonel Peer Streit of the German Federal Armed Forces Aviation Office, whom we interviewed as part of our Team Mind project. He says, “One should not overestimate experience, but always question it critically. Egotism and overvaluing one’s own skills are a danger, as is a lack of openness and empathy.”

In the hospital, for example, training courses on drug safety and the opportunity to ask questions directly within the team are effective: in the case under examination, the rate of non-compliance fell from over 60% to less than 30%. There are four psychological “shields” against simple rule violations up to and including employee crime: 

1. Opportunity does not make every person a thief: Checking personal integrity with appropriate tests halves the number of counterproductive acts

2. Listen to critical voices, give time for reflection: Train teams to make the right decisions even under time and decision-making pressure

3. Lead safely: Encouraging, ethical leadership that provides psychological safety to learn from mistakes

4. Make weaknesses visible: Transparency and documentation to implement improvements and check their effectiveness