The Mann Gulch Disaster
Discussion I - The Mann Gulch Disaster
1. The mental obstacles that constrained the way a problem is defined experienced by the smokejumpers (conceptual blocks) included the following:
a. First, the jumpers were told that the fire they were going to fight was a 10:00 fire, meaning that they were going in prepared to fight a fire that should be contained by the next morning. They seemed to have pre-defined the problem without consideration that they may be dropped of having to fight a different type of fire. This type of vertical thinking creates a conceptual block is known as constancy.
b. In addition, they also showed signs they experienced a complacency block by not asking questions when:
i. They encountered bad weather on the plane ride in and had to be dropped from the aircraft at 2,000 ft. instead of the normal 1,200 ft. From the case reading, it appeared that the jumpers were in a “zone” to fight a 10:00 fire and did not consider that the weather conditions may have affected the fire’s strength and course. ii. Dodge lit the fire in the middle of their only escape route and tells them to lie down in the area that has already burned.
c. The smokejumpers also suffered from a conceptual block called compression. When Dodge suddenly tells the jumpers to turn around away from the river and run up the hill on an angle, they are unaware that these instructions are being given because their leader saw the fire cross the gulch. It seems as though the jumpers were unable to find out the needed information. Granted, I am sure at this point the scene was chaotic and all were in panic mode, but no one was able to ask and receive the needed information of “why” all should proceed uphill on an angle and no longer go toward the river.
d. As fire fighters, the men have been taught that their ‘tools’ are needed to do their jobs. Dodge tells them to drop their tools. The fire jumpers experience a commitment conceptual block here, as past experience indicates
1. The mental obstacles that constrained the way a problem is defined experienced by the smokejumpers (conceptual blocks) included the following:
a. First, the jumpers were told that the fire they were going to fight was a 10:00 fire, meaning that they were going in prepared to fight a fire that should be contained by the next morning. They seemed to have pre-defined the problem without consideration that they may be dropped of having to fight a different type of fire. This type of vertical thinking creates a conceptual block is known as constancy.
b. In addition, they also showed signs they experienced a complacency block by not asking questions when:
i. They encountered bad weather on the plane ride in and had to be dropped from the aircraft at 2,000 ft. instead of the normal 1,200 ft. From the case reading, it appeared that the jumpers were in a “zone” to fight a 10:00 fire and did not consider that the weather conditions may have affected the fire’s strength and course. ii. Dodge lit the fire in the middle of their only escape route and tells them to lie down in the area that has already burned.
c. The smokejumpers also suffered from a conceptual block called compression. When Dodge suddenly tells the jumpers to turn around away from the river and run up the hill on an angle, they are unaware that these instructions are being given because their leader saw the fire cross the gulch. It seems as though the jumpers were unable to find out the needed information. Granted, I am sure at this point the scene was chaotic and all were in panic mode, but no one was able to ask and receive the needed information of “why” all should proceed uphill on an angle and no longer go toward the river.
d. As fire fighters, the men have been taught that their ‘tools’ are needed to do their jobs. Dodge tells them to drop their tools. The fire jumpers experience a commitment conceptual block here, as past experience indicates