Real-Life Decision Making
You race out the front door of the office without even bothering to throw
on a coat. A customer has just called to tell you they have lost control of
a satellite that is used to gather information for the military. Within minutes
you're at the site and are quickly ushered into the computer terminal area.
The breakdown put these technologists in a panic -- this information is used
to make important decisions about how the armed forces conduct their activities.
Needless to say there is a bit of pressure on you and your co-worker to
find the source of the problem as fast as possible.
You start by examining all of the physical malfunctions that could be blocking
the information. Finally you run out of things to check in the
wires because they meet the walls to the outdoors.
You send a technologist outside to see if the wires are connected to the
satellite dish. You have to cover all the bases. She returns in 20 minutes
to say that the wires are connected properly.
Meanwhile, you flip open your manuals and search through the software to
figure out what could be causing this computer system to malfunction. It takes
an entire day's work, and by evening you still haven't found the problem.
The situation is becoming critical. Every minute that the system is down may
result in a military disaster. You tell your partner you're going to check
all the physical connections again just in case you missed something.
"I should probably throw a coat on and look outside as well," you say.
"You know, we didn't actually see for ourselves that the wire outside was
connected properly."
"That's a waste of time," snaps your partner. "We sent a knowledgeable
person to check it out. You'll waste valuable time going out there when we
need you here to finish examining the software."
What do you decide to do?