"Under Pressure - Making Decisions Like a Fighter Pilot!"
Every person finds themselves in situations where they have to make decisions under pressure, just like a fighter pilot. However, making a good decision under pressure or stress is difficult. Fighter jet crews are associated with the myth of being able to make the right decisions in stressful situations and under immense time pressure. Pilots must go through a long, tough school to learn this skill. The basic skills required for this are equally learnable and applicable by every person in any environment. And don't worry, it won't take you years. Here is the shortcut: In the Cockpit or in the Executive Chair At first glance, the cockpit of a fighter jet and your executive chair may not seem to have much in common. However, when you compare the cockpit workplace with the position of a CEO, it quickly becomes clear that there are more similarities than initially believed. As a jet pilot, you operate in an environment that is constantly changing. A plan may look good on paper, but when changes occur, you must be flexible and react quickly to ensure mission success or not endanger the pilots themselves. The constant time pressure is problematic. A decision must be made quickly. You can't just call a meeting in the air to find a solution - after all, the aircraft is flying at 1000 km/h. You cannot afford to be one step behind In the executive chair, you also face similar problems. Here too, the environment, market conditions, or competition are constantly changing, and those who do not act correctly quickly lose ground. We fighter pilots call this "Getting behind the aircraft." Once you have lost ground, you won't catch up. You might argue that a company doesn't operate like an aircraft and there is simply more time available to make good decisions. This may be true, but even in stressful situations, you can't just stop everything at once. Once the avalanche has started rolling, it is difficult to stop. A fighter pilot is capable of making appropriate decisions at any time. This is not a myth - without this skill, they would not survive. Every pilot learns this skill during their training, but it has nothing to do with exceptional intelligence or other "special" abilities. Good Preparation - the 6 P's and Briefing The basis for all actions of a fighter pilot is precise and detailed preparation. A fighter pilot is a simply structured person. Plans must be simple and executable. We call it the proverbial 6 P's (or 5 P's if you prefer) - Proper (Preflight) Planning Prevents Poor Performance. Preparation contributes over 50% to the success of the mission (or your project). This includes developing a perfect plan as well as preparing for all possible "What Ifs" - so what happens... - if there are delays - if personnel are unavailable - if external circumstances or market conditions change - if equipment is damaged or missing - if your product is not market-ready - if your staff is overloaded - if ... These "What Ifs" must also be easily applicable. Before starting the engines, every pilot has mentally "flown" the mission with all eventualities in mind. For this reason, the second important tool for fighter pilots before the flight is the briefing. This is not a casual meeting with coffee, cookies, and "death by ppt." The briefing is a completely structured "mission briefing," in which the mission is presented down to the last detail and all actions for possible "What Ifs" are briefed. Every pilot/participant in the mission/project must be brought up to the same level. Because the success of the mission/project ultimately depends on the actions resulting from the briefing. The Mission - Managing Cognitive Abilities Certainly, you cannot foresee everything 100%. Therefore, pre-determined actions are not always correct. But in 99.9% of cases, the resulting decision is still good enough - good enough to successfully complete the mission, good enough to bring everyone back safely. Pilots are very aware of the risks they expose themselves to. The risk factors, i.e., the influences on the mission, are more or less always the same. They usually consist of: - Man (individual and team) - Machine (affected hardware) - Mission (project/assignment) - Medium (environment) - Management (influence of management/leadership decisions on the mission) I call these factors the 5 M's. Following simple structures and checklists helps in stressful situations. Inhibiting, complicated thought processes are avoided, and it is important to act directly. Debriefing - Did it work, and if not, why not? After the mission is before the mission. Learning from mistakes is essential to continuously improve. A fighter pilot cannot afford to make the same mistake twice. In the debriefing, all facts are analyzed, and causes are determined. Individual blame is out of place here. It's about facts! These facts should ultimately become part of your experience.
