TASK LOADING - - - TIPPING POINT

[Rastus]

The discouse about "task loading" was absolutely one of the best inclusions in a podcast I've heard.  It helped me greatly at work this week...I mean, it really helped me at work this week.  

Mr. Bane, do you have a recommendation for a reference on this topic?  The organization I work for is way into the "high performance team" concept....slang for work your butt off like a ping pong ball in a pool of disorganization...an additional thoughtful reference on "task loading" coupled with "tipping point" concept and shutdown would be a good guide for the team that reports to me.

On another front, I think this is good for the family.  Especially to educate my wife with...bet I'm not the only one either.

Thanks,
Ken

[Pathfinder]

Excellent points, Ken, I was thinking the same thing when I finally got to listen to the podcast yesterday.

In my line of work (IT) people rarely die from our mistakes (unlike cave diving!), and so rampant disorganization, inefficiency and mistakes are usually not paid attention to, unless one of the higher ups is made to look bad. And yet people are routinely overtasked, and then held to some account when the tasks fall through.

[Trevor]

In my line of work (IT) people rarely die from our mistakes (unlike cave diving!), and so rampant disorganization, inefficiency and mistakes are usually not paid attention to, unless one of the higher ups is made to look bad. And yet people are routinely overtasked, and then held to some account when the tasks fall through.

It is the same were I work.  Further references on the idea of task loading would be appreciated.

[seeker_two]

Ken said everything I wanted to say...and said it much better than I would....Thanks, Ken 

I'm also looking forward to any info on the topic...from experience, I can assure you that this is  how most state government offices work, too... 

[tombogan03884]

Ken said everything I wanted to say...and said it much better than I would....Thanks, Ken 

I'm also looking forward to any info on the topic...from experience, I can assure you that this is  how most state government offices work, too... 

And manufacturing plants   

[Sponsor]

[Michael Bane]

The sad thing is that there is no reference on task-loading as it applies to anything but diving. I'm surprised there's not more on the subject out there because, to me, it's a critical component of learning theory that has so far been overlooked. I think if you take paradigm analysis, tipping point theory and task-loading, mix them together and shake thusly, you end up with a sort of "unified field theory" for why many what appear to be perfectly good plans fall apart. It also gives you a completely different set of baselines for training...

I know...I know...I should write a book...

Michael B

[jnevis]

I'm about half way through a book (Friendly Fire,Scott Snook-Princeton Paperbacks) concerning the April 1994 shoot-down of a pair of US Army UH-60s by a pair of USAF F-15s over Northern Iraq.  Very informative so far and applicable to more than military types, more for the psychological and cultural causal factors that can be shown just about anywhere.  A company has a "command climate" or "norms" that affect the reactions to stimulis. 

There is a considerable part of the portion I have read on how the F-15 pilots and AWACS aircrew were task saturated and the cultural and psychological forces that resulted in the shoot-down.  The basic premise is that the F-15 pilots were not given a comlete picture and they acted on incorrect sensory (human and mechanical) inputs resulting in them mis-identifying the Blackhawks as Iraqi Hind attack helicopters then engaging them.  The AWACS operators were task loaded and a new crew on thier first mission in theater as a crew.  The controller talking with the helos expected them to be on the ground and didn't have a good picture of where they were and the controller talking with the F-15s had no knowledge of the helos.  Lots of dominos fell one after another.  With all the procedural and mechanical safeguards in place it still failed.

[tombogan03884]

 My theory of machine operator training is  Keep it Stupidly Simple. Fixture loading and part checking are things that you will be doing for hours on end, the operator WILL NOT pay attention beyond the first hour or so. To reduce scrap do not require him to think.

[Hank Ellis]

The discouse about "task loading" was absolutely one of the best inclusions in a podcast I've heard.  It helped me greatly at work this week...I mean, it really helped me at work this week.

Agreed that the "task loading" segment was a X-ring. I've been exposed to the concept before but not in shooting/self-defense context.

In aviation we have to keep a close eye on tasks and prioritize what is important RIGHT NOW, now, later, and when we get around to it. Accident debriefs are filled with crews taking on too many tasks and failing to do the one task that is most important. Fly the damn airplane. US Airways 1549 which had the double flameout due to bird ingestion and landed in the Hudson is an excellent example of task management. The crew did what was important and ignored what wasn't at the appropiate time points.

Skydiving for years was my hobby. 20 years and 2000 jumps taught me a few things. In a nutshell you have three handles. Pull them in the right order above 500' and your chance of survival is very good. Amazing how many people couldn't handle that. Your emergency procedures have to be ingrained to point where you don't think about it. I see A so I must execute B. I don't have time to worry about whether I can fix it or not as I have a planet aimed at me and in about 10 seconds we will meet in a rather spectactular fashion.

Don't jump much these days and now I scuba dive a bit. NAUI Advanced and Nitrox. Here more than aviation and skydiving I've experienced task loading. My last dives were in October this year. I haven't dove in 3 years and except for a couple pool sessions I was nowhere near current. The first couple of dives I was a very busy individual trying to take care of all the issues. My pulse rate went up. Breathing rate went up. Lots of movement but no real work getting done (loss of fine motor skills). Then it all came back. A is important then B, then C.

Task loading applies to the shooting world and self defense in a big way.