Situated Humility

Michelle Barton and Kathleen Sutcliffe having an increasing article on crisis management in the Spring 2010 issue of the MIT Sloan Management Review. The article is entitled Learning When to Stop Momentum. Their research focuses on teams that fight wildfires in the context of preventing complex and dynamic problems from spiraling out of control. The focus of the article is on “dysfunctional momentum” - - which occurs when people continue to work toward an original goal without pausing to recalibrate their processes, even in the face of cues that suggest they should change.

One recommendation of the study is that manager practice “situated humility” - - the realization that no one person can solve the problem alone, where diverse input is essential. Barton and Sutcliffe write the following:

When small fluctuations in events can have significant implications and when the events themselves are still unfolding, adjustments in approach are critical. It is precisely these situations in which preexisting assumptions, planned actions, and rationalizations are most dangerous if rigidly held. One of the key differences between firefighters who overcame dysfunctional momentum and those who did not was in the recognition of that danger. The first groups were not complacent about the situation, and despite their frequent heroism they did not have their egos on the line. In other words, the most successful firefighters where those who exhibited situated humility.

Situated humility arises not out of personal insecurity but rather from the acceptance that, however confident one is in his or her own skills and abilities, the situation is so dynamic, complex, and uncertain that no individual can be fully knowledgeable under the circumstances. As one very experienced firefighter put it: “As old as I am and as experienced as I am in relation to these large fires, when I walk into the next fire I initially won’t know anything.”

Successful firefighters believe that fire is so unpredictable, so inherently unmanageable, that it can never be fully understood. As a result, they question and test their own assumptions and welcome the interruptions that may revise them. The respective appears to reflect what social psychologist Karl Weick refers to as “an attitude of wisdom” - - the knowledge that one does not fully understand what is happening because he or she has never seen precisely this event before.