7/29/20
On January 28, 1986, six astronauts and one schoolteacher boarded the Challenger space shuttle as millions of Americans watched the events unfold on live television. 72 seconds later, the spacecraft exploded midair leaving an entire nation stunned in its aftermath.
The Challenger disaster as it was soon dubbed by the press, garnered widespread attention almost immediately prompting a national level enquiry that featured the likes of the famed physicist Richard Feynman.
The blame was finally attributed to O-Rings used to seal joints in the solid rocket booster. But it was procedural lapses within NASA that ultimately took the spotlight.
Diane Vaughan, an American sociologist had a very interesting prognosis.
She believed that the disaster could primarily be attributed to NASA’s decision to fly the space shuttle despite a dangerous design flaw with the O-rings.
Vaughan describes this phenomenon as occurring when people within an organization become so insensitive to deviant practice that it no longer feels wrong.
As she puts it — “It’s the gradual process through which unacceptable practise or standards become acceptable.
As deviant behaviour is repeated without catastrophic results, it becomes the social norm for the organisation”
It’s called *”The Normalization of Deviance”*
This too shall pass,
Let’s check our own life for the flaws and deviant behaviour that is slowly creeping into our life and becoming the norm and will harm us.
A small leak can sink a big ship, be wary, take corrective action and Stay blessed forever.