Flying in the Clouds:
Piloting an airplane on a sunny day really accentuates the saying; "on a clear day you can see forever". Using all the visual clues available, you can monitor where you are and where you're going. Verifying landmarks on the map, cross checking the compass heading with the course you planned and calculating ground speed are some of the ways to assure a timely arrival at your destination. Flying in the clouds pre-empts using visual references from outside the airplane to determine where you are. Your field of vision is restricted to the interior of the airplane. When you look outside, all you see is white, the ground, the natural horizon and familiar landmarks are obscured. Lacking this information, it's nearly impossible to keep the wings level, track in a straight line or even maintain a constant altitude. Many airplanes are equipped with a panel of radios and instruments so pilots can fly in the clouds without the visual cues from the natural horizon or the earth's surface. The pilot must constantly monitor each instrument and decipher the information. If the pilot becomes preoccupied with a single instrument and fails to check the other instruments or interprets the information incorrectly, the flight (and ultimately the destination) may not turn out the way the pilot planned. As a business owner or executive, you have some resources in common with the pilot of an airplane. The pilot has a sectional [map] with the desired course drawn on it. Your "map" is your business plan. The pilot is headed for a particular destination...a coastal airport for lunch or a remote airport to camp out. You have goals for your business...quality products and services, market share, satisfied customers and ultimately, profitability. It's easy to correlate a pilot's map with the company's business plan. So, where is the parallel between the radios and the instruments of an airplane and a business? You have an instrument panel in your business. You may not identify it in those terms; however, consider this perspective. The "Big Five" instruments of any business or organization are Innovation & Planning, Sales & Marketing, Production & Productivity, Finances and Employees. Visualize these five components on an imaginary panel. As you "drive" your business toward your goals, it is important to regularly check, analyze and interpret the significance of the information they provide. A business gets off course when the leader fixates on one of these areas and neglects the others. Usually there is a problem requiring your attention and the natural response is to put energy and resources [primarily time] into finding a solution. If resolution of the problem takes a while [weeks or sometimes months] to achieve, other areas of the business can be overlooked and critical information missed. Flying in the clouds keeps a pilot very busy. By checking the instruments frequently, small corrections easily get the plane back on course. The same discipline will help your business. Develop a process that allows you to deal with urgent issues, while keeping in touch with other aspects of the business. ©2000-present Flight Unlimited - All Rights Reserved |
