![]() The Statistical Research Group’s task was to figure out how to best protect the planes without unnecessarily impacting the other factors. The problem was that Allied planes were being shot down and needed more armor. The more you add of one thing, the more you take away from other things. You divide that weight among crew, equipment, armor, and ordnance. Given a certain engine, you can fly so much weight. War planes are, of course, the product of engineering trades. But the end results of this technique were profound and present an object lesson we can still draw from today.Ī problem was posed to the SRG - too many planes weren’t returning from missions. ![]() It is harder to see things that are missing. It is easy to critique things that are present but incorrect. He was looking for things that weren’t there, using their absence as an additional data point. One of Wald’s ways to approach problem was to look beyond the data in front of him. Near Columbia University, mathematicians and computers - the human kind - worked on problems ranging from how to keep an enemy plane under fire longer to optimal bombing patterns. ![]() This was part of a top secret organization in the United States that applied elite mathematical talent to help the allies win the war. Wald worked for the Statistical Research Group (SRG) during World War II. You may not know the name Abraham Wald, but he has a very valuable lesson you can apply to problem solving, engineering, and many other parts of life. ![]()
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