The art of not being busy in a crisis.

I recently had the opportunity to indulge in a passion of mine: flying. This was in a Vietnam-era Huey (UH-1H Iroquois for those in the know). Like me, it's 50 years old, and it's more of a flying museum piece, a far cry from the helicopters I usually fly. It can carry 12 passengers and crew, and even more in an emergency. It flies higher and faster than many others, delighting viewers from all around.

Due to its historic significance, being the only one of its type in Europe that served in Vietnam, there are many restrictions on how and where it can be flown. But transitioning from one helicopter to another, the flight controls and instrumentation were immediately familiar.

After learning the preflight checks and startup sequences from the ground crew, it was time for me to take more of a back seat. Seated behind the Captain (and owner) Phil and his First Officer Neil (a former RAF squadron leader with over 10,000 flying hours), I had the best seat in the house. Knowing roughly what they were doing, I observed something interesting about how Phil and Neil managed their tasks, responsibilities, and communication to ensure safety and a successful flight. This was a very practical lesson in crisis management, whether you're up in the air in a flying machine or behind a desk flying spreadsheets.

The more experienced person is less busy.

Phil has over 600 hours of helicopter experience, so he's no novice. He takes the controls as the Captain, while Neil, who has more hours than most people alive, takes the less senior role.

Logic might dictate that you'd prefer the more experienced pilot in command, and given that this helicopter can be flown with only one pilot, you don’t even need another. So why the extra crew? Neil is there to observe, make judgments, and provide recommendations to the Captain without the sensory overload of flying. Neil is more than capable of taking control if needed, which provides a degree of reassurance to the Captain. Listening to Neil call out headings, wind observations, warnings about flocks of birds, and reminders for Phil to check the temperatures and pressures (the lifeblood of the machine) is a useful prompt, especially when Phil could easily be absorbed in talking to the tower or checking for other aircraft.

Surrounding yourself with experienced people who are equally capable of leading, and who are wise enough not to overwhelm themselves with your tasks—and respecting them enough to listen to their advice even when you are busy—builds a formidable team that can get everyone through safely. In business, this looks like a mutually supportive leadership team, a strong group of Non-Execs, or even Co-CEOs, which is becoming more common these days (including at Netflix and M&S). An article by Harvard Business Review (https://www.livingstonjames.com/are-two-ceo-heads-better-than-one/) studied over 80 listed companies with co-CEOs and found they produced an average annual return of 9.5% compared to 6.9% for those with a sole CEO. Safety in numbers, indeed.

Pointing and Calling Checks

This experience is reinforced with engineered in skills to allow the validation of critical data that’s coming at you constantly. This method of calling out specific in-flight checks, such as the temperature of the engine and oil pressures, ensuring there are no variations outside the green safety zones, which could indicate a problem and a rapid end to the flight.

For the budding pilots among you, the UH-1 helicopter is so stable that you can literally fly it with no hands, try that in a Robinson R22, and you'll be upside down in a field before you know it. This physical freedom gives the pilots the ability to operate the array of additional flight controls. So, when calling out their in-flight checks, the pilots point to or touch the instrumentation. As they call out what it is, they also state its status for the other pilot to hear. For example, they touch the oil pressure display and say, "Oil Pressure," then confirm its status: "Green." They move on to the engine RPM status, touch it, and say, "Engine RPM," followed by "6600. Within range," and so on. This conscious step of pointing and calling acts as both a physical and audible report, a feedback loop used in multiple industries, especially where safety is paramount. When introduced by Japanese bullet train railways, this method cut incidents by 83%. Rather than just waving a flag to say it’s all clear, they pointed at the doors of the train and said "Clear," they pointed ahead of the train down the track and said "Clear," to reinforce the individual steps and statuses, as a memory aid.

When we look for indications of issues in our own businesses, pointing and calling for the KPIs is a crucial check for the lifeblood of the business to ensure we are flying a steady course toward profit and goals. Everyone should know the KPIs and what good looks like so anyone can call out a deviation from the norm, gathering the attention of decision-makers, rather than flying headlong into an obstacle due to the assumption that all was okay.

Stay Calm and Carry On.

Neil should read audiobooks, his typical Squadron Leader’s voice of calmness is contagious and exactly what you need if and when a crisis occurs. There is something about calm voices that clearly communicate crucial data and they get heard.

People listen to this calmness more than they do to angry criticism or panicked voices, which instill panic just as effectively. This was such a key element of human nature that, for many years, fighter pilots, who are predominantly male, received critical warnings from a female voice, nicknamed "Nagging Nora". The male brain seemed to respond better to resolving issues presented by a female voice warning of impending collision with terrain with the audio clearly stating, "Pull Up, Pull Up." The fighter pilots would inevitably hear this verbal instruction over all the other crucial data.

Being the cool, calm, and collected voice of reason in the boardroom, has the same benefit. Being someone who can call out the crucial business information can save you from crashing your business. Conversely, panicked, flapping, and incoherent communication is likely to cause a nosedive into the ground.

The net result of applying calm leadership that knows what KPIs to look at and does not overload itself by working in a team is much more effective results and that we can measure in both dollars in business and lives saved in aviation.

Wishing you all blue skies and tailwinds!

PS Fancy the same flight see https://www.huey.co.uk/ https://www.key.aero/article/huey-509-iconic-bell-uh-1

About the author: Malcolm Wild is a technologist with over 25 years experience in retail and ecommerce, combined with consulting and delivery experience across APAC, EMEA and USA. He brings this historical experience to clients in an ever evolving landscape.?Any views represented here are those of the author and not necessarily those of any organization or employer that he may represent. www.malcolmwild.com 2024 (c).