The studies of Sir Francis Galton are said to have laid the foundation for the critical incident technique, but it is the work of Colonel John C. Flanagan, that resulted in the present form of CIT.
[1] Flanagan defined the critical incident technique as: [A] set of procedures for collecting direct observations of human behaviour in such a way as to facilitate their potential usefulness in solving practical problems and developing broad psychological principles ... By an incident is meant any specifiable human activity that is sufficiently complete in itself to permit inferences and predictions to be made about the person performing the act.
To be critical the incident must occur in a situation where the purpose or intent of the act seems fairly clear to the observer and where its consequences are sufficiently definite to leave little doubt concerning its effects.
[4] Since then CIT has spread as a method to identify job requirements, develop recommendations for effective practices, and determine competencies for a vast number of professionals in various disciplines.
[8] CIT is used as an interview technique, where the informants are encouraged to talk about unusual organizational incidents instead of answering direct questions.
[13] By identifying possible problems associated with major user–system or product complications, CIT recommendations try to ensure that the same type of situations do not result in a similar loss.
[citation needed] Relatively few modifications have been suggested to the method in the more than 50 years since it was introduced, and only minor changes have been made to Flanagan's original approach, indicating reasonable robustness.