Decision Making in High-Risk Situations with Colin Zacharius

Why is it so hard to make good decisions in higher risk situations? High risk situations are ones where a mistake, a miscalculation or a mishap can lead to serious or unmanageable consequences. These situations are the ones where uncertainty and the threat of experiencing serious consequences can apply pressure that can cloud our judgment.

In this episode Chris and Jordy are joined by Colin Zacharius to explore how we can make better decisions in high-risk situations.

Colin is well renowned ACMG /IFMGA Mountain Guide who has worked in the adventure industry since 1980. Colin has worked as a guide, guide trainer, avalanche educator, accident investigator, risk management specialist and speaker.

He has worked extensively in the cat skiing and Heli-skiing industry in Canada and the US. He has trained and examined guides across multiple disciplines for the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides where he previously served as the technical director.

Colin harnesses his extensive experience working in the adventure industry to help us to understand why it so hard to make good decisions in high-risk situations and how we can avoid some of the mistakes that he has seen throughout his career.

Key Takeaways

How to make better decisions in high-risk situations:

Imagine: What the worst-case scenario could look like.

Practice Good Habits: This includes taking the time to be well prepared, being situationally aware so that you know what is happening or likely to happen and being aware of any human factors that may negatively influence your judgment.

Examine Decisions Afterwards: Either by getting peer feedback, debriefing with your team or by using self-assessment. The intention should be to examine decisions that are made regardless of the outcome, with the intent of identifying things that went well and areas that could be improved. What you really want to identify are trends.

Build in an Adequate Margin of Error: This gives you a buffer in case of a mistake, misstep, miscalculation or there is a surprise.

Avoid Normalizing High Risk Situations: When we become too comfortable in high-risk situations, we become complacent to the danger.

Guest Bio

Colin Zacharius is well renowned ACMG /IFMGA Mountain Guide who has worked in the adventure industry since 1980. Colin has worked as a guide, guide trainer, avalanche educator, accident investigator, risk management specialist and speaker.

He has worked extensively in the cat skiing and Heli-skiing industry in Canada and the US. He has trained and examined guides across multiple disciplines for the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides where he previously served as the technical director.

Colin has contracted as an instructor, course leader, and recently as a curriculum developer for Canadian Avalanche Association (CAA) Industry Training Programs (Level 1-3). He has also provided consulting services for the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education.

His guiding work has included ski touring, trekking, and climbing adventures with individuals and small groups to domestic and exotic locations (New Zealand, Morocco, Costa Blanca Spain, the Alps, the Dolomites, the Canadian Arctic, Iceland, and the Antarctic Peninsula).

Guest Links

Contact Colin: [e-mail]

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