Last week I was fortunate to join once again the ATCOs from all around Europe to play a few rounds of golf together at the European Controllers Golf Championship, the ECGC2018. The event is arranged annually by one of the participating teams, and it collects 200+ ATCOs every year. This is a highly social event despite its competitive aspect - it is, however a championship - held this time near Paris, at prestigious Le Golf National golf club. 

A few ATCOs formed the organisation of ECGC already back in the 1980's, with the intent to meet their friend colleagues from other countries, who share the passion for the game of golf. It was supposed to be a small-time thing with a handful of controllers joining, but quite rapidly the event boomed as more and more ATCOs learned about the event and wanted to join. Today the ECGC can be described as an organisation with decades of tradition. 

The tournament venue this year was one of the greatest golf courses in Europe, Le Golf National. This is a venue which will host the French Open this summer and later this year the Ryder Cup, and it is under grooming for these events already. This means that the course is extra difficult. Having a set of Sunday players on a course of this caliber creates an interesting situation. On the other hand they should enjoy playing on a course that you usually only see on TV Sports channels. The fairways are beautiful, the taller grass on the sidelines waving in the breeze, the design of the course and its rolling landscape absolutely gorgeous with many pretty ponds and lakes on the way. Even the weather was sunny and warm, only slightly windy now and then. In a nutshell, conditions were great for golf.

Playing the field a recreational golfer, and actually enjoying the game, is a bit different story. Standing on a course on which you know the big names of golf have played and will play, gives you a sense of greatness. You feel you can do anything. Hit it straight and long down the fairway or curve beautifully around a little mound, lob graciously over a tree or cross the water and land the ball next to the pin for an easy putt in. This is something I call a Human Factors moment. You somehow forget your limitations as a golfer even though you are very well conscious of them. At times you even verbalise this and tell your playing partners how you think you can make it. Then you end up trying too much and fail - not always, but lot more often than not.

After hitting it in the water, losing the ball to the thick rough - which, by the way, looks really pretty from a far with wind waving the tall grass - or after digging a slice of ground as thick as Doc 4444 from underneath your ball, you immediately realise you did something stupid. -I never should have gone for it. -What on earth was I thinking. There was no way this was ever going to work. Disappointments occur and you do not enjoy playing anymore. 

Chances of success were super slim, but still you went for it. You probably can even explain your thought process that lead you to the decision of trying to go for the big shot, but only after the error has already happened. After you can't take it back. After the shot has already been counted. Only then, you can tell what made you think it was a good idea at the time. 

Making a mistake like this, in a friendly tournament like this is not really a big deal. What is the risk? What is there to lose? One golf ball for sure, and maybe a prize umbrella for the longest drive or nearest to the pin competitions. There is not going to be an investigation because of your ill judgement. You are not going to be suspended from playing the game until you prove yourself worthy of the sport again and your skills are reassessed. You can actually laugh about it. 

Therefore you may make the same bad decision again and again on the golf course. -I am sure I can make it this time if I apply a bit more power. -The last time I was aligned poorly, so now I turn my shoulders that way and hips this way, squeeze the club a bit  and it will be perfect. You try, and fail again. And you keep on doing this over and over again, often for almost all of the 18 holes.

ATCOs disallow this sort of thinking on their job. ATCO shall always know the limits of your skills, you never take a chance you know you only maybe can succeed at. You never take an unnecessary risk and the threshold of what is considered "unnecessary" should be quite low for an ATCO. And furthermore, you should be able to tell when things are getting close to what you can and cannot make. How can you tell when to start saying no to more traffic? 

Dunning-Kruger effect argues that you need to be good at what you do, to be able to realistically assess your own abilities. If you are good at what you do, you can better assess how good you actually are at that thing you do. A low ability controller will struggle to make that judgement. He can easily fall into false sense of competence, or illusory superiority, and end up making that poor decision. Over and over again.

Us amateur golfers in an environment suited for black belt professionals did just that. We thought we were better than we actually are, and we ended up losing lots of golf balls. Our abilities may be appropriate to a community golf course with lots of open space and few hazards, but out in the ECGC2018 course, we could not handle it mentally. We kept on making those poor decisions time and time again. We were not good enough for the course. 

As an ATCO, you can't afford to lose that ball, though. You need to be on top of your game and in control at all times. A good instructor can say something, and feedback on not just about the trainee's technical skills, but also about her thinking processes. It is not just about what the trainee demonstrates, but also how she thinks and makes decisions. Tapping into those internal processes is essential for a trainer to be able to help trainee grow to be an observant, competent and aware controller. Being able to know when to play safe and smart, and knowing when the course is just too tough for you.