Human Factor Observation Tool

The Idea:
A tool that allows BC skiers to get an overall sense of their mental (and physical) state in relation to their decision making ability at the moment. This would be accomplished by defining a few (4-6) descriptive parameters which one could rate themselves (Lo, Mod, Hi, for example). This would give a rough snapshot of their state of being as it relates to decision making at the moment and could be trended across time and compared to other members of the group at a given point in time.
Initially, this would be something that would be recorded in a field book. As people become practiced at taking the observations, the descriptive parameters become more of a conversational vocabulary and observations can be made and shared continually and fluidly.

Why do we need this?
We make targeted, objective, and quantitative observations of snowpack and weather. Why don't we do it for the Human Factor? Because the Human Factor is vague and complex with an infinite number of possible observations. By defining a few broad observations (keywords that trigger a line of thought) we are able to target our HF observations and they become less overwhelming. I feel like the HF observations often does not get as much attention in field conversations (as compared to snowpack and weather obs.) largely because it can be uncomfortable to talk about how we are feeling, or our emotions.

The Question:
What do you think good descriptive parameters would be?
To get you started, I think CookieMonster's "Desire" and "Uncertainty" would be very useful.

While I am looking for ideas regarding the parameters, I welcome all discussion about this idea. Is it even necessary? Would it work? Do you have a better idea?

Thanks,
Dan

Our little gang have organized a ski trip on Mt Hood staying at the Silcox Hut for going on 14 years running now. One of the human factors we seek out in order to better match folks up for climbing partners is to have them give us their personal rating for "Summit Motivation". Makes it a lot easier to figure out who's climbing with who.

Cool. I like that idea. I would say that "Summit Commitment" falls under the broader category of "Desire".
You bring up a good point though, and that is that is important to explicitly discuss Goals before a trip. I think it is often assumed that everyone had the same goal, mainly skiing, but an explicit discussion will draw out the finer details and get people on the same page in terms of expectations for the day.

great topic, my weakest point. Always trying to get better.

would motivation and morale be the same thing?

motivation drives your desires. ok, you wanna go, but why, and why now?

Sometimes I am certain, but my morale is low. Maybe I am just not happy with a dicky partner.



I like to often just ask "how are you doing?" or"how do you fel about this?".. and then try to listen. Sometimes

I like to ask each person in the group what their 'expectations' are for the day!

I like the idea. I think one thing that makes discussing human factors amongst a group harder than discussing snow conditions is that you can make statements about the state of the snow without hurting anyone's feelings. Saying "this slope received some cross loading" doesn't insult the snowpack. Telling a group that you fear they are falling into the expert halo or that someone has powder fever can hurt people’s feelings, so people can be less apt to do so. It doesn’t make it less important, but it happens. I think that giving a more objective framework may lessen some of that apprehension and make the discussion easier. If you are running down a checklist it could be easier to broach a subject that a person might not have tackled. It has been my experience that in larger groups the reluctance to speak up can be the biggest human factor and it can magnify the effect of other human factors. I think your idea, Dan, may help solve that problem.

I have found that I make better decisions when I am happy and having a good time than when I am not happy. I don’t know what label would best describe it, but something like level of enjoyment is how I think of it.