What is ‘situational awareness?’
As we approach the end of 2022, there’s no doubt that many of us will pause to reflect on what we’ve achieved over the last 12 months – and look ahead with eager anticipation to what next year holds.
Whilst undoubtedly there are challenges impacting our lives which none of us can anticipate or be prepared for, there are certain things we can all do to shape our own destiny.
One of these is to remain constantly aware of the environment around us – in fact one step ahead so we can predict what may happen and how we’ll react.
How do you oversee your environment? Picture Joshua Earle Unsplash
Renowned US businessman, educator, and keynote speaker Steven Covey placed great emphasis on this.
In one of his most popular books, “The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People,” he claims “Every human has four endowments – self-awareness, conscience, independent will, and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom… The power to choose, to respond, to change.”
In today’s modern business speak, this ability to constantly remain ‘ahead of the game’ has become known as ‘situational awareness.’
But what exactly is this concept which plays such an important role in our lives?
There are various definitions.
One states: “Situational awareness or situation awareness (SA) is the perception of environmental elements and events with respect to time or space, the comprehension of their meaning, and the projection of their future status.”
Meanwhile, another defines situational awareness as “Perceiving salient elements of a rapidly changing environment in order to anticipate, understand and act on future events.”
Whatever the detailed definition, there’s no doubt that situational awareness is an appropriately descriptive label for a real and important behavioural phenomenon.
Situational awareness has been recognised as a critical, yet often elusive, foundation for successful decision-making across a broad range of situations. Furthermore, lacking or inadequate situational awareness has been identified as one of the primary factors in accidents attributed to human error.
It clearly has far-reaching applications, as it’s necessary for individuals and teams to function effectively in their environment.
Don’t miss the next in my series – “Why is situational awareness so important in the workplace and what can managers do to improve it?”
If you’d like to explore the subject of situational awareness more deeply, please contact me via Email: russell@theresiliencecoach.co.uk.