Risk Awareness and Problem Solving: Critical Attributes for Those Operating in Dynamic Environments

               Welcome back to another article in this now five-part series aimed at helping pilots translate their valuable skills and providing perspective on ways to apply their experience as they leave the cockpit and venture into another chapter of their professional life. This article is for you if you’ve ever worried about being buried too deep with experience in your specific career field to make a successful pivot, or have ever struggled to translate specific skills that made you great at your job. I encourage anyone, whether you’re affiliated with aviation or not, to continue reading for a pilot’s perspective and outlook on attempting a successful career pivot. The ideas may trigger you to think differently about your role or skills that can be applied in other areas of life.

               In my last articles, I highlighted how an aviator’s attitude, confidence, awareness, self-discipline, communication, demeanor, and situational awareness all played a large part in developing aviators into successful leaders. In this installment, we’ll cover the additional attributes of risk awareness and critical thinking; they are equally requisite elements that make aviators excel in their profession in the cockpit or leading teams. Look forward to several additional articles that focus on more skills like unparalleled decisiveness, technical awareness, and expert judgement. Thank you in advance for taking the time to read through this installment of “Navigating a Career Pivot: Pilot Edition,” I encourage you to check out all the previous articles in this series and tune back in for the future installments. I look forward to any feedback that you can offer based on your perspectives and experiences, or any discussions that these opinions spark! Now let’s get into it…

Left: An OH-58D Kiowa Warrior Scout Weapons Team (SWT) rearms and refuels during a training exercise. Pilots have to be conscious of their weight limitations and how it will affect the performance of their aircraft. Pilots need to be aware of these changes and have the ability to adapt to the new challenges that they present.

Numbers and Problem Solving

               Spoiler alert, most aviators are number people. This doesn’t mean that they’re just nerds who see zeroes and ones in sequences of code, nor does it mean that they don’t possess the mental agility to think outside the box to innovate or solve complex problems. I don’t want to say that problem solving is THE most important attribute that should be valued in either leadership or aviation; however, it ranks up there with situational awareness. Aviators exhibit strong mental agility that manifests as strong quantitative AND qualitative reasoning skills, and they have to rapidly switch back and forth between multiple stimuli/tasks. Pilots can’t just be numbers OR creative people, they have to be both—flying is demanding of critical thinking abilities and proficiency with numerical analysis. Whether the pilot-in-command (PIC) is responsible for him/herself and one passenger, or an entire crew of ten plus 180 passengers, there are significant (possibly fatal) consequences if they fail to solve any range of difficult problems (undoubtedly under stress). Leaders at every level must exhibit the same mental agility. 

               Professional aviators will know the numbers. To qualify to fly a particular aircraft in a commercial or military capacity, pilots must know the limits of everything from loading weights/ranges that affect the craft's center of gravity to the temperatures/pressures that are acceptable for it's transmissions or engines. Even general aviation pilots know numbers and ranges critical to the operation of their small(er) Piper Cherokee or Cessna Caravan. Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) require pilots to be familiar with the specific aircraft they fly, even if it falls within the same category and class as their certificate and doesn't require a type rating. Pilots are aware of these numbers and able to recognize deviations from normal with visual indications (via gauges) in the cockpit. Some may be color-coded, others may not, but knowing the numbers will trigger pilots to think about potential complicated/compounding factors such as instrument error or component failure under specific conditions. If sensors fail, they may indicate an abnormality; pilots have to be aware of their aircraft and are prepared to react appropriately to hundreds or thousands of possible situations or compounding issues. Pilots must be prepared to deal with anything from electrical or hydraulic issues to mechanical or structural problems in a methodical and analytical way.  There are plenty of performance charts and loading charts specific to each aircraft, and familiarity with these metrics is essential; pre-flight planning always includes computation of performance and weight values to verify the conditions for safe operation. It’s not just rote memorization of numbers; pilots need to be able to use basic math to quickly calculate time, performance, navigation, or weight & balance values. Sure, a lot of complex planes and helicopters have fancy computers that do these kinds of calculations, but pilots still need to be prepared for computer failure. They should be able to quickly ballpark values mentally as an integral part of their analysis or judgement; interpolating values based on the raw data already known. Good leaders are aware of their metrics and numbers, and they must approach their problems with an analytical perspective as they address issues, make corrections, or improve elements in pursuit of their objective.

Left: A MH-47G Chinook is on short final to land in a field. Pilots have to be prepared for any number of things to go wrong with little time to react in situations like this.

               Enough talk about numbers. Problem solving is heavily reliant on creative ability to think outside the box. Yes, pilots have checklists, manuals, or regulations that set out pretty clear procedures or ways to prevent problems; however, there are thousands of possibilities when it comes to potential emergencies that can appear. Pilots don't have time to pull out their checklist in the event of an engine failure on short final, they have less than a second to react. Many things never manifest in the expected way or truly resemble the exact same characteristics highlighted by the manual. Aviators use checklists as a foundation for how to approach the situation. Ultimately, they act using to their experiences, knowledge, and creativity to ensure that lives aboard their craft are saved and damage to an aircraft or structures on the ground is minimized. A pilot’s leadership abilities are evident when faced with any complex situation. They calmly handle the issue by utilizing their knowledge/experience to appropriately assess the situation.  They deviate from a certain procedure if necessary—they know that following the actions in the checklist as published could create a more dangerous situation. Leaders must have the problem-solving ability to tackle difficult situations or issues with little guidance, acting autonomously and making decisions based on elements of critical thinking and analysis.

               The following is a situation that pilots of multi engine aircraft discuss from time to time: you get the indication in the cockpit of an engine fire on the left engine, what do you do? Based solely on indications presented to the pilot, they might instinctively want to shut the engine down immediately. Some checklists may say that this is right; but, without verification of other factors like temperature, visual presence of smoke, or abnormal performance indications in the cockpit, there may not really be a problem. Let’s say everything else is normal, but you shut the engine down anyway—have fun flying slower (if at all) or making a riskier landing with one engine. The aviator will always find ways to verify the problem and diagnose the emergency appropriately, in this case making a judgement that it’s a faulty sensor and keeping the engine providing power—but keeping a closer eye on it in the event that the situation continues to devolve. The thought process for dealing with the given situation is lightning quick, and the decision should be made to execute a specific course of action in a second or two. This critical thinking, rapid decision making attribute is closely tied to a heightened situational awareness. Leaders and Aviators are always learning, they’re always aware, and they’re always thinking. For problem solving and awareness reasons alone, I urge anyone searching for their next program manager, general manager, or C-suite executive to consider someone with an aviation background for their ability to make difficult decisions, with thorough analysis, rapidly.  

Risk Management and Leadership

              Yet another critical juncture of aviators’ and leaders’ skills. Risk mitigation, risk management, and even occupational safety, these are all subjects that the good pilots and effective leaders have in the forefront of their mind and consider in their decision-making processes. Risk management and mitigation are such paramount issues that they’re talked about no less than a dozen times before pilots even climb into an aircraft and start an engine. Even if you fly alone, it’s something you’re thinking about as you glance over the airplane at a distance and evaluate its airworthiness, looking for any apparent damage when you walk out for a pre-flight inspection. It’s something pilots think about when they get an aviation weather brief. I can’t specifically speak to airline operations, but I imagine that they put a solid emphasis on mitigating the possible risks when they rely on their ability to safely send millions of people through the air at blistering speeds in large aluminum tubes in order to make money. Everyone involved in aviation, at some level, should be aware of the risks associated with jet fuel, turbine exhaust, and loud noise and do their part to minimize the impact on their health.

                In military aviation, the process is very deliberate and formal, and it requires multiple signatures on brief sheets to gain approval for any flight. Each element (unit/company/squadron) maintains a safety program that’s managed by a specifically trained safety officer; they nominate and approve a list of “briefers” and “approvers” that act redundantly throughout a flight approval process. A PIC must first fill out a safety and mission approval sheet, highlighting all of the dangerous mission tasks and flight modes in their plan; tallying up their score for a total risk value—higher scores are not necessarily better in this game. Everything from mid-air refueling of a helicopter behind a C-130, flying nap of the earth at night under night vision goggles (NVGs), or flying in less than ideal forecast weather conditions carries a specific value based on unit or organizational regulations. Combine compounding factors like aerial refueling, at night, over water, in minimal weather and you might as well find a General to ask for that approval; never mind the fact that the refueling probe on your helicopter is 6 feet inside your front rotor disk, and there is only about 5 feet of clearance between the rotor tip-path-plane and the hose from the C-130 (a LiveLeak video of this still exists on YouTube if you need better visualization of this task https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZiF-8-srsY&t=31s). 

               Aviators think about safety and all ways to mitigate risks throughout their planning process. Once a crew has conducted their own assessment by completing a safety brief sheet, the PIC and co-pilot will talk to a “briefer” about their plan. This serves as a sanity check to ensure that the given crew is qualified and capable of managing all the tasks they plan to execute. The “briefer” is typically a more experienced aviator, qualified and current in the aircraft and mission profiles and is designated as a pilot in command; they provide a common sense check and can offer appropriate input or caution before the crew advances to the “approver.” The approver will be familiar with the mission set and have some form of leadership and accountability stake in the successful completion of the mission. In the Army, it’s usually a Platoon Leader, Company Commander, or other experienced leader within an aviation Battalion or Brigade. They’ll ensure that a brief has been completed and provide a final approval, or advocate for approval from the required level if the overall mission risk level exceeds their authority. Now you’re ready to go fly… not quite. Generally, there are several additional steps required; filing a plan with flight operations, receiving a formal weather brief, conducting a mission brief with more focus on safety principles, and conducting an pre-flight brief with the entire crew that is almost always directed at crew coordination principles & overall safety during the flight. I didn’t count, but I think that’s more than just a couple touch points for safety consideration. All of those briefs, exercises, and discussions are rooted in the risk mitigation and risk management principles that only aim to make the inherently dangerous act of flying less dangerous. While I’m generally opposed to an institutional overreach or extreme regulation of procedures, these more rigid methods addressing risk mitigation and risk management have a place in aviation and have trained pilots to make safety a conscious aspect of their planning and execution. 

               Despite these rigid systems that support an organization’s interest in prevention of fatal accidents, individual aviators are trained to be aware of all risks. This manifests as their analytical perspective as they try new things and innovate, it is apparent when they ask additional questions to spur further engagement, and it becomes evident in the drafting of new publications or task descriptions. This awareness and analysis by no means supports an idea that pilots are risk averse, quite the contrary—they are just professionally trained to understand what risks are appropriate to accept and how each unique situation dictates their decision making. There are risks in every aspect of our lives, but putting aviation risks in perspective with the other facets of our lives will show that aviators are not risk-averse, but risk-aware.   Pilots lead their crew, resembling a small to medium sized team, making it essential for pilots to set the tone within their team by creating and maintaining this atmosphere of safety. Though many corporate entities don’t put conscious emphasis on safety at the individual leader level, these abilities and the unique thought process that aviators utilize will be of huge value as they pursue leadership opportunities and find their next focus in corporate America.  

Next Issues

               Thanks for taking a look through these points highlighting the importance of critical thinking and risk management. I’ll continue to highlight key attributes that make successful aviators great leaders by touching on the need for self discipline, effective teamwork, decisiveness, technical awareness, and expert judgement in future articles. If you enjoyed this edition, be sure to look into previous articles that explore and highlight other requisite skills that make pilots excellent leaders in other aspects of life. This list is not all-inclusive and I’m sure that there will be additional, valid points brought to my attention through discussions and feedback. If you’re thinking about your own transition or are struggling to translate the skills that you already have, I hope this series of articles will help shape your mindset as you accelerate down the runway, giving you confidence as you take off into a new career beyond the cockpit.