Response Design Corporation: Kathryn's Blog

NASA conducted a study involving commercial airline pilots. They asked the pilots to perform routine landings in a flight simulator. During several of the landings, the researchers put an image of a large commercial airplane parked crosswise on the runway. Twenty-five percent of the pilots landed right on top of the parked airplane. Even when the researchers asked the pilots directly, “Did you notice the plane on the runway?” the pilots said, “The what?” The pilots never saw the obvious – well, they never saw what was obvious to the non-professional. They had what I call “professional blindness,” and many of us running contact centers have it as well.

“Professional blindness” means we tend to miss what we’re not expecting to see. We are conditioned by our expertise and routine to only see what we’re accustomed to seeing. Think about how this affects us. When we go about our daily routine, looking at computer screens and report printouts, we may not see the commercial aircraft sitting right in the middle of data. Because we don’t see it, we don’t do anything about it and later wonder what caused the events of day to “go south” so fast.

Maybe you are running a routine training session or facilitating a daily staff meeting. You sense something isn’t quite right; but, you see nothing obvious. Later, a participant asks you if you noticed the obstacle to success, the “airplane on the runway.” You think back and answer, “the what?”

Professional blindness happens to your agents as well. Every time they speak with a customer, they use the same computer screens to answer questions or solve problems. Routine has taught them to expect to see certain data on each screen. But whenever that unexpected “parked airplane” appears on their screens, it is highly likely that some of the agents will miss it entirely.

People who are new to a job aren’t as blind as us veterans. They haven’t been conditioned to have expectations. Research has taught us over and over that new hires are one of our best sources of innovation. They don’t have to think (or see) outside the box because they haven’t have time to build the box around them.

To hone your center’s ability to identify the obvious:
1. make the employees aware that they could have areas of blindness;
2. when possible, have teammates switch tasks;
3. take time to listen to new hires; and
4. talk with people outside the environment and ask them what they see.

Even though they may not know how to “land the plane,” they might be able to point out what may keep you from landing safely.

Have you learned something unexpected or surprising by talking to a new hire or call center observer? We would love to hear your story.