Captain Phil Higton is a former British Airways pilot who now specialises in teaching safety improvement in healthcare and other industries. He emphasises the importance of paying attention to the Authority Gradient:

"There is no cost associated with aiming for a shallow Authority Gradient at work except the surrender of a little pride on the part of the boss and a willingness to be something other than a unit of labour from the juniors. The improvement in working atmosphere and team performance can bring huge improvements in safety." (International Society for Quality in Healthcare webinar, May 2012)