The Hidden Power of a "Questioning Attitude" in High-Risk Industries
High Reliability Group LLC
Helping our clients develop great leadership and culture
In industries where a single oversight can lead to catastrophic outcomes—such as oil and gas, chemical processing, and maritime—leaders often underestimate the power of fostering a "Questioning Attitude." But what exactly does this look like in practice?
Understanding the Principle
In the U.S. Nuclear Navy, a "Questioning Attitude" isn’t skepticism—it’s disciplined curiosity. It means encouraging leaders at every level to challenge assumptions, investigate anomalies, and continuously validate decisions.
Case in Point
Consider a chemical plant that adopted this approach. One maintenance technician, instead of performing a routine quick-fix, questioned an irregular reading. His initiative to stop, investigate, and escalate the issue prevented what could've been a costly chemical spill.
Measurable Results
In this case, the facility recorded a decrease in human-related errors within 6 months and increased proactive reporting of safety hazards. Sharing and presenting this back to the organization created a network effect and elevated organizational critical thinking skills.
How do you build this culture?
There is a more holistic solution to this leadership behavior, which can be watched here. Specific to HRO Principle of Questioning Attitude:
A Challenge to Leaders
If your teams are reluctant to question or raise concerns, it’s a cultural red flag. Shift toward a questioning attitude—it’s not just operationally wise; it's strategically essential.
Easier written then practiced for sure - but - post our Nuclear Navy careers, we've been deploying these solutions to industry for over 9 years - and they work. We're here to share a few models that have helped others. Let's talk.
Improving Quantitative Literacy | Professor (Statistics & Operations Research) | Veteran ????
13 小时前Great points, High Reliability Group LLC! This is an essential practice in high-stakes industry, and it has broader applications where the consequences are lower. A questioning attitude is neither skepticism or irreverence - although at first it can appear as such. In the higher ed classroom, there is typically no risk to life, product, or property. But questions are still priceless. When a student asks a question about underlying assumptions, results of an example, etc. they are giving the instructor gold. Gold to mine and see - who else has this question (probably multiple folks), where is the misunderstanding or mistake (instructors aren't infallible), how can I make this clearer (how does this tie in to what we already know, what are other application areas. We can foster a questioning attitude by receiving questions well. We don't have to answer all questions all the time, but we need to acknowledge the actual words and decide to mine now or mine later. To do otherwise is to both miss out on current gold and shut down possibilities of future gold.