Is Following the Rules Enough?

While on a flight not long ago, I noticed the lady seated next to me was reading the card in the back of the seat in front of her about the different airplane models and configurations.  It is not often I have seen that before, but in light of the recent issues with the Boeing Max Air I asked her if she was comfortable with the plane we were on.  

She responded in enough detail (short answer was “Yes”) that I had to ask how she knew so much about the planes, to which she responded: “I am an air traffic controller at JFK.” A 29-year veteran who said she believed that Boeing took a dangerous shortcut due to competitive pressures rather than just fully re-design their plane.  

Yesterday on a radio show all about the Boeing Max Air situation, the commentator was saying that the FAA turned over too much control to Boeing.  The FAA says they “followed the rules” and did nothing wrong.  In the meantime, hundreds of people died, hundreds of planes are grounded, and here is an example of what is being discussed in the USA:

Our conversations seem to be more about pointing fingers of blame, our inconvenience, and the price of the stock, rather than on the human tragedy and personal responsibility.

This got me to thinking about some of the regulations we deal with everyday - can they be improved, do they need to be?  And how can we be better informed when making our own decisions?  Some rules work VERY well, like traffic laws for instance. Millions of people per day follow basic rules that keep most people safe most of the time.  (Think RED, YELLOW, GREEN) 

Here are a few things that seem to be challenging my ability to make an informed decision:

- I recently received disclosure documents for a 401K Plan that was 157 pages long.  

- Have you ever read all the disclosure on a smart phone ap?

- How about the definitions of ORGANIC, NATURAL, or GREEN?  (In line behind some young boys who asked dad for some candy reading from the package: “It says organic!” - Dad didn’t fall for it.)

It is not clear to me that MORE disclosure necessarily helps the consumer.  It also seems to be true that large companies do have an impact upon the rules that are imposed upon them—and apparently too much, as in the Boeing situation. Additionally, if we as individuals wanted to understand the disclosures and have issues with them then our ONLY option is to choose NOT to participate—like the 401k or smartphone app.  

Short of simply consuming less or getting lucky, how do we as individuals improve our chances of making the best decisions possible in a world of high speed and mega companies?  At least I was lucky enough to sit next to an airplane expert who could assure me I was NOT on a dangerous plane.