Judgement and Decision Making Under Stress – Making the Right Choice, a Stormwater Industry Perspective

Stress in professional industries, such as the stormwater field, is portrayed in a negative light by the media and in the workplace and is commonly linked to illness, absenteeism, productivity loss, cognitive impairment, depression and increased aggression. Considering the perception of stress, this paper demonstrates that the negative stress perception in our industry could be causing us as practitioners to be prone to health problems and in the worst case premature death. In addition, being stressed and making decisions under uncertainty makes it more likely that we are leaving a legacy of choices that are made without all the information or adequate risk assessment.

The paper provides thought leadership on how we could combat the impacts of stress in our industry, by positively-framing stressful situations and undertaking decision making in challenge situations rather than threat situations. The paper also challenges the industry to acknowledge and focus on the significant positive outcomes for people and the environment as this will enhance the impacts of participants in the industry itself. We should be focusing on this positive stance when under stress, and record, share and celebrate the positive outcomes as a benefit for all.