Reliability through mindfulness in Indian aircraft maintenance organisations: a proposed framework

Mindfulness is defined as, "A state of consciousness in which attention is focused on present-moment phenomena occurring both externally and internally" [Dane, (2011), p.1000]. "Individuals who are mindfully engaged in a task are both motivated and able to explore a wider variety of perspectives, make more relevant and precise distinctions about phenomena in their environments, enabling them to adapt to shifts in those environment." Reliability is the degree of consistency of a measure. A measure is said to have a high reliability if it produces similar results under consistent conditions. A high reliability organisation (HRO) is an organisation that has avoided catastrophe in complex and risky environments where accidents are normal (Bourrier, 2011; Weick and Sutcliffe, 2011). Key aspects of organisational mindfulness which are relevant to quality and reliability include preoccupation with failure, reluctance to simplify, attention to operations, focus on resilience, and the migration of decisions to expertise (Weick and Sutcliffe, 2001). By focusing on the present, paying attention to operational detail, willingness to consider alternative perspectives, and an interest in investigating and understanding failures, individual and collective mindfulness are promoted (Langer, 1989).