A recent tragic death at a large distribution center has shone a harsh national spotlight on management decision-making.

"A worker collapsed and died on the floor of an Amazon warehouse in Troutdale, Oregon, on April 6," reported Yahoo Finance, "and for more than an hour employees say they were told to keep loading trucks as the body lay nearby." (An Amazon statement noted that the stricken employee received CPR and other medical care, and reiterated that "nothing is more important" than worker safety, but did not contradict the fundamental employee claims of work continuing while a body lay nearby.)

But my purpose here is not to criticize Amazon. It's to discuss how managers make decisions in unusual circumstances — under stress and pressure — when the average management manual will not give you guidance on how to respond.

In this instance, the worker who collapsed and died was a 46-year-old male who worked at a physically demanding job "hauling tall stacks of plastic bins through the warehouse on carts."........

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