Lessons from The Cockpit: Flying Into Bad Weather

“Uh, Houston . . . We Have a Problem” If you’ve seen the movie “Apollo 13” you know those words spoken by mission commander, Jim Lovell marked the start of what could have been an infamous day in America’s space program. Thankfully, it didn’t turn out that way.  The crew was able to quickly focus on finding a solution to their predicament.  (THAT is good training!) What happened on Apollo 13 is not all that different than what many of us are finding ourselves facing in our own business in 2009. There was an unexpected event on the spacecraft. There was an unexpected event in the economy. Both vehicles -- the Apollo command module and your business -- were hit.   Hard. Both faced imminent loss.  Unless something was done to turn things around . . . inside the vehicle or the business you've built. Fight or Flight -- it IS a Choice! When faced with a serious threat to your life or your business, you have a choice to make between what is known as ‘Fight’ or ‘Flight’.   ‘Run Away’ or ‘Make Your Stand’.  Sometimes, retreat is your best option.  Sometimes, it’s not . . . the best thing to do or even an option you should consider. As we’re now moving into the last quarter of 2009, I’m observing that a number of small business owners are taking a position (intentionally or not) on how they’re going to respond to the challenge of our rather turbulent economy. Basically, there are two (2) camps of thinking that seem to be emerging: <ol> <li>owners who are ‘staying the course’ and ‘doing nothing new’ to market their business, and</li> <li>owners who are choosing to ‘do something’      to market their business in this economy</li> </ol> Those who choose to ‘hunker down’ and ‘stay the course’ in the hope that they will ‘survive the storm’ are making a risky decision between action and inaction.  If you have a lot of money in savings, you may be able to afford to exercise that choice.  But not all have that option.  Even worse, many owners are exercising the ‘do nothing new’ option -- whether they can afford to or not. Others who decide, as Hamlet once said, “To take arms against a sea of troubles and, by opposing, end them . . .” regardless of their resources, are far more likely to not only survive the economic turbulence we’re in at the moment but thrive better than most when it ends, as well. Pilot Training Taught Me About 'Bad' Weather Back when I was a pilot in training, there were certain times (during instrument flight training) that you learn you must ‘trust the instruments, NOT your body’.   Why?   Simple.  Without visual cues (like the horizon) when you’re ‘in the clouds’, your sense of balance becomes unreliable very quickly. In the clouds, you ‘feel’ like you’re listing to the right so you ‘correct’ by banking your aircraft to the left.   That ‘feels’ correct -- to your body.  (Note -- I didn’t say, ‘right’ because as I learned instructing others, ‘right’ can communicate the wrong thing at the worst time to a student pilot!)   In fact, the shallow left turn makes you ‘feel’ like you’re flying ‘straight’.  But you’re not.  You’re actually in a shallow left bank and turning to the left rather than proceeding on a straight course. Relying on your ‘feelings’ rather than instruments, you’ll soon find yourself in what pilots refer to as the ‘graveyard spiral’.   Your shallow turn to the left actually reduces your aircraft’s lift factor (it’s aerodynamic stuff and I won’t bore you with that!) so you lose altitude.   Whether you can read your instruments when you’re flying ‘in instrument conditions’ or not, even beginning pilots learn you maintain altitude by keeping your eyes on the altimeter. If you notice you’re losing altitude, the natural response is to “pull back on the stick or yoke’.   When you’re in level flight, that raises your nose and makes your aircraft climb.  Hence, you regain any altitude you may have lost. But once you’re in a turn, however slight, pulling back on the stick only tightens your turn.  Ironically, that ‘feels’ the same (to your body) as when you’re climbing -- you feel yourself being pushed down into your seat.  But it’s not gravity making you ‘feel’ that sensation; it’s centrifugal force (you’re in a turn, remember?).   At this point, non-instrument trained pilots may notice that they’re losing altitude even more rapidly.   So they (again!) ‘pull back on the stick’ -- hoping to re-gain the precious altitude they’ve lost. But it seems to work in exactly the opposite way.  The more they ‘correct’ their lost altitude, the more altitude they end up losing! Eventually, this becomes a viscious cycle that makes the aircraft (and, the hapless pilot and any unfortunate passengers) enter such a tight turn that the aircraft suffers structural damage and is lost or, the plane is flown all the way down into the ground (or, the sea as happened to John F. Kennedy, Jr off Martha’s Vineyard, MA not too long ago). OK, back to today’s ‘Bad Weather’ Economy . . . If you, like most of us in entrepreneur-land, find this economy isn’t the same as it was about a year ago, your response to it may not be all that different than a pilot who doesn’t understand (and doesn’t take!) the ‘best’ course of action under deteriorating flight conditions. Today, the ‘natural’ inclination of many businessowners and solopreneurs is to do ‘nothing different’ despite a very different economy than we had in most of 2008.   I submit that may be just as deadly as pilots who do the wrong thing for the wrong reasons at the wrong time in an aircraft experiencing a flight in ‘severe weather’. What is called for now is ACTION.  Action that is appropriate for ‘current conditions’.  And that would be . . . to market your business in a manner that reflects: <ul> <li>a candid, honest understanding of your business -- strengths AND weaknesses,</li> <li>the marketplace you seek to attract and serve, </li> <li>a proven and systematic plan for taking coordinated actions to market your business or practice services . . . effectively</li> </ul> Doing ‘no thing’ IS an option.  And, that MAY just be the best decision you can make. At times.  This economy, however, is probably NOT one of those times! The sad thing is that many don’t make a deliberate decision as much as a decision-by-default because many are simply not being proactive about the ‘sea of troubles’ on the horizon that are waiting for everyone who’s running a business in 2009. My Respectful Recommendation . . . Do Something ––By Design, Not Accident! As tempting as it is to ‘do nothing’ hoping that this economic storm blows over, I submit that is a strategy that’s just as deadly to your business as a ‘graveyard spiral’ is to an inexperienced pilot. As difficult . . . uncomfortable . . . unsettling . . . as it may ‘feel’ to you . . . DO SOMETHING to market your business by design, not accident . . . in these turbulent times / this turbulent enconomy. Doing no-thing, given the current economy, is not the best course of action you can take these days.   The economy has changed.  You must change, too. Or, suffer the consequences of two saboteurs: <ol> <li>Ignorance . . . about what to do, and</li> <li>Indolence . . . over doing it</li> </ol> How you’ve marketed your business and services in the past may need some adjustments to make your business remain successful in these turbulent days. You risk making mistakes when you do something new.  And none of us want to make mistakes.  But doing no-thing is still a decision to do some-thing.  And no-thing may be a mistake because doing ‘no thing’ has it’s own consequences -- good and bad.   The problem is they’re not consequences you’re choosing to have. They’re consequences you’re forcing yourself to accept because you’re not making decisions and taking actions that are keys to your own success. What?  You Don’t Have ALL The Answers? In this economy, no one has ALL the answers for your specific business or professional practice. But please . . . don’t do no-thing because you didn’t already consider doing some-thing else.   At the very least make doing no-thing a deliberate and thoughtfully considered decision.  It may be the correct course of action for you and your business. Or, not. But for many, like Hamlet said, “Taking arms against a sea of troubles . . .” will be far more likely to end them than simply hoping they’ll go away on their own! So . . . do your homework . . . seek the counsel of your trusted advisors . . . then DO some-thing to market your small business or professional practice.   Yes, even if it is no-thing. (Possible but doubtful) And whatever you do . . . do it deliberately!   Your business will come through this challenging economy and yes, you WILL be better for it when (not if) this crazy economy eventually turns around. 2009-09-17T01:41:35Z

2009-09-17T20:25:13Z

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lessons-from-the-cockpit-flying-into-bad-weather

2009-09-17T13:24:48Z

2009-09-17T20:25:13Z

Flying into a bad economy is no different than flying into bad weather. Both can get you hurt. Or, worse. This is what I learned as a pilot about surviving weather and how it applies to our current economy.

Lessons from The Cockpit: Flying Into Bad Weather

2009-09-17T20:25:14Z