Human Factors and Human Performance: Lecciones Aprendidas De La Copa Mundial De La FIFA

In 1994, Roberto Baggio was considered the best soccer player in the world.  On a hot summer afternoon that year, he stood behind the penalty kick line contemplating the kick he needed to score to tie the shoot-out and prevent Italy from losing the World Cup to Brazil.  The eyes of nearly 100,000 spectators were on him, along with 2 billion television viewers.  Surely Baggio would succeed.  But the ball sailed over the net, and Brazil won.

Scoring a penalty kick under low stress situations is relatively easy, just as it is to follow safe operating and maintenance procedures on a normal day.  However, under pressure, including emergencies, overwork, high expectations, and fatigue, even the smartest, best trained, most skilled worker is more likely to fail.

This paper will examine the impact of pressure on performance and discuss a surprising finding from the study of World Cup penalty kicks that can be useful in making a positive connection between Conduct of Operations and human performance.