We've recently been reviewing all of our previous courses and material and it's easy to remember the hero moments. However some of the most important lessons come from reviewing the performance rather than the outcome.
A few years ago Tim and Paul decided to climb Mont Blanc and ski back down. Having spent months training and preparing they were good to go. Once in Chamonix the weather was fantastic and the mission was on. The problem was that in the high mountains there had been to much snow. Although conditions looked ideal the reality was potentially lethal.
Their emotions and the surface level observation, combined with a little confirmation bias was that they should attempt to summit. This is sometimes referred to as summit fever. The real intelligence gained from collaboration with local experts and mountain guides was that conditions were too dangerous. The agonising but correct decisions was made to come back down again. The mountain will always be there!
I wonder how often in business do we have to make marginal calls and things aren't obvious. Do you have a system for navigating conformation bias and leading your team towards the best decision? You will only know it works iff you pressure test it with valuable training and experience.