All In The Mind Can 'normalisation of deviance' help to explain a catastrophe?
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Feb 14, 2026 
Professor Sidney Dekker, expert on safety in complex systems, and Dr Nejc Sedlar, psychology researcher on normalization of deviance, join James Bullen, senior producer who recounts Challenger and other disasters. They unpack how small accepted shortcuts become normal, where this shows up in high-risk fields, and what organizational habits and pressures allow dangerous drift toward catastrophe.
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How Risky Practices Become Normal
- Normalisation of deviance is when risky deviations become accepted because prior occurrences caused no visible harm.
- Production pressure and repeated 'no-harm' outcomes shift what an organisation treats as normal risk.
Challenger And Columbia Failures
- Challenger exploded 73 seconds after launch because O-rings failed in cold temperatures and had been noted previously.
- Columbia later broke up due to foam strike damage that occurred at launch and manifested on re-entry.
Decisions That Make Sense Locally
- Local rationality means people make decisions that make sense to them given goals, knowledge, and pressures at the time.
- This rationality compounds: what worked before becomes the new baseline for future choices.
