In the
US space industry, "go fever" (also "launch fever") is an informal term used to refer to the overall attitude of being in a rush or hurry to get a project or task done while overlooking potential problems or mistakes.
The term was coined after the
Apollo 1
Apollo 1, initially designated AS-204, was intended to be the first crewed mission of the Apollo program, the American undertaking to land the first man on the Moon. It was planned to launch on February 21, 1967, as the first low Earth orbita ...
fire in 1967 and has been referred to in subsequent
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...
incidents such as the
Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' disaster in 1986 and the
Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' disaster in 2003.
Causes
"Go fever" results from both individual and collective aspects of human behavior. It is due to the tendency as individuals to be overly committed to a previously chosen course of action based on time and resources already expended (
sunk costs
In economics and business decision-making, a sunk cost (also known as retrospective cost) is a cost that has already been incurred and cannot be recovered. Sunk costs are contrasted with '' prospective costs'', which are future costs that may be ...
) despite reduced or insufficient future benefits, or even considerable risks. It is also due to both general budget concerns and the desire of members of a team not to be seen as not fully committed to the team's goals or even as interfering with the team's progress or success.
"Go fever" is comparable to the "
groupthink
Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome. Cohesiveness, or the desire for cohesiveness ...
" phenomenon, where a group makes a bad decision for the sake of cordiality and maintaining the group's atmosphere. The term was coined by
social psychologist
Social psychology is the scientific study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people or by social norms. Social psychologists typically explain human behavior as a result of the rela ...
Irving Janis
Irving Lester Janis (May 26, 1918 – November 15, 1990) was an American research psychologist at Yale University and a professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley most famous for his theory of "groupthink" which described the s ...
in 1972.
The psychology behind "go fever" is also reminiscent of "get-home-itis", the irrational desire to press on unnecessarily to a desired destination despite significant (but likely temporary) adverse conditions.
[Woods, Sabrina (date unknown). Get-Home-Itis - The Keys to Treating an "Airborne" Disease. Originally published in ''FAA Aviation News''. Retrieved from http://iflyamerica.org/safety_get_home_itis.asp.]
See also
*
Groupthink
Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome. Cohesiveness, or the desire for cohesiveness ...
*
Sunk cost
In economics and business decision-making, a sunk cost (also known as retrospective cost) is a cost that has already been incurred and cannot be recovered. Sunk costs are contrasted with '' prospective costs'', which are future costs that may be ...
References
Bibliography
*
The Nation: NASA's Curse?; 'Groupthink' Is 30 Years Old, And Still Going Strong
External links
(archived at the Internet Archive)
NASA
English phrases
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