Wait, what? I'm sure here we can relate to the software side of things. How many times have you been in a position of saying "go/nogo" where saying "nogo" didn't imply it would also be your last day on the job? (or at least a severe Career Limiting Move)
For a relatively brief period, I worked as a software quality engineer related to aerospace research and development. Practically every test that used software required a “go/nogo” decision before they were allowed to run any safety critical test. The safety chief would give the overall “go-nogo” decision but the subsystems (like software safety) would require “go-nogo” decisions to be fed through the chief.
As I’ve said elsewhere, good organizations implement a distinct chain of command for those decisions so they can be made more impartially. Even then, it’s not without career risk, but IMO that’s part of the gig and why it takes a certain amount of professional integrity. As someone else said, if someone isn’t up to that task, maybe developing safety critical software isn’t the right gig for them.
I was able to formaly state a "nogo" when I worked in banks. The management could bypass it, but it was then a formalized decision of their part and it discharged me of any liability for the problem that lead to my "nogo".
