Real-Life Decision Making
It is getting late, but you're working a double shift. You're
working long hours and it is hard work, but at least you are getting paid
for your sweat. The end of the first shift is coming soon, but your bones
are already shaking.
You are painting the new company logo on a wing. You've done the paint
mixing and thickness and weight calculations and loaded the paint into the
spray gun. You are well on your way.
It is painstaking work. You must have steady hands, good balance and a
good eye for color. You must also have a head for numbers because the calculations
for the thickness and the weight of the paint must be accurate. "If the calculation
is off, the uneven thickness and weight of paint may affect [the] control
and balance of the plane," says Joe Dough, a professional aircraft painter.
It took almost eight hours, but you are finally finished. The wing looks
beautiful. You look at your watch and realize that you have one hour to rest
your tired bones before your next shift starts. You go into the maintenance
personnel common room. You lie down on the couch to rest your tired eyes.
BEEEEEEEP -- You wake up to the sound of the alarm. Rest time is over.
You drag yourself off the couch to get back to work for your second shift.
You enter the maintenance hanger and there is a jumbo 747.
It takes another eight hours for you to finish painting the wing on the
plane. You feel so tired in those eight hours that you almost fall asleep
and fall off the wing. You're glad when you finish the wing and your
second shift ends.
It is 8 a.m. and you're driving home. You're having trouble keeping
yourself awake. When you finally get to your house, you are relieved. As you
get out of your car and walk to your front door, a piece of paper falls out
of your pocket.
You pick it up and it turns out to be the thickness and weight calculations
that you used to paint the wing of the plane. To your surprise, you realize
that you miscalculated by a little bit. You're sure the extra amount
of paint you applied was so small that it will not hamper the performance
of the plane, but still you wonder if you should report this miscalculation
to your manager anyway. What do you do?