Who's In Control Here Anyway: Why You Don't Argue With a $40 Million Dollar Jet

‘Illusion of control’ is the tendency for human beings to believe they can control, or at least influence, outcomes that they demonstrably have no influence over.”

-Wikipedia

There are times in life when you just have to let go.

This is a lesson I learned while at the controls of an F-18 fighter. Yes, it is true — most pilots are control freaks. But there is one time in a fighter pilot’s life when he cannot afford to do things his own way.

That time is when he is out of control.

Sound strange? Well, read on…

Do you remember in the movie Top Gun when Maverick was applauded for flying at the “edge of the envelope?”

Well, unlike our friend Maverick, most (sane) pilots strive to stay inside the envelope. Flying outside of the envelope means you no longer have control of your airplane. Flying out of the envelope is not flying, it’s falling.

Case in point…

In the F-18, if you get going really fast, then pull straight up, soon you will run out of speed and start coming back down again. Unfortunately, the coming-back-down part can be quite violent. The air usually flows over the back of the wings, then the side, then the back again. In other words, airplanes are meant to fly straight — and when they don’t, they may never regain control again.

Pilots affectionately call this situation “OCF,” short for “Out-of-Control Flight.” And every fighter pilot (without exception) has a set of procedures that he must be able to recite and perform from rote memory.

He is tested on these procedures at least once a month and will not be permitted to fly if he fails to recite them perfectly from memory. In the case of the F-18, the OCF procedure is about six lines long and starts like this…

“Controls —release.”

Can you believe that? The first thing you are supposed to do when the F-18 becomes uncontrollable is to release the controls!

In effect, this procedure boldly exclaims that the airplane is better at getting itself out of these difficult circumstances than the pilot. Of course, that’s all well and good until you realize that the most difficult thing for your average control freak pilot to do is let go of anything.

But that is what the procedure says, and that is what we do.

Most pilots hope they never end up in an out of control airplane. And most are good enough to make that happen.

Not me.

I’ve been Out of Control twice. (Yay me.)

The last time I remember going out of control was over the ocean west of the Japanese island of Okinawa. It was during a one-against-one dogfight. I had a very junior wingman with me that day and I was going to teach him a thing or two about how to dogfight an F-18...

...or so I thought.

We met at a merge, and both airplanes went up. As we met again, I began to execute a maneuver that was bound to secure my victory.

Only this time, I misjudged both my altitude and my airspeed (bad combination).

And I soon found myself simultaneously out of airspeed and ideas (another bad combination).

For a brief minute, I tried to right the airplane using my own efforts. Then my training and rote memorization kicked in, and I began to execute the OCF procedure just as I had been taught.

• Controls — release
• Feet — off rudders
• Speed brake — in
• If still out of control —
• Throttles — idle
• Altitude, angle of attack, airspeed, and yaw rate — check
• When recovery indicated by angle of attack and yaw rate tones removed, side forces subsided, and airspeed accelerated above 180 knots — recover

The airplane bucked, then pitched up; the nose pushed down; and I was looking at a glare shield full of water. I was hurtling uncontrollably toward the ocean at a rate of 20,000 feet per minute. At my altitude, I knew that if the plane was not under control in less than 30 seconds, I would have to eject.

“Controls — release.” I recited the procedure again in my head.

Then, as if my jet had been planning this all along and right at the last minute (literally), it started flying again.

As my airspeed increased, I put my right hand back on the stick and pulled the nose up toward the horizon - a very nervous (but very alive) pilot. A few minutes later, I was landing safe and sound on the runway back at our base.

Now...I’m not proud about almost losing an airplane. But I relearned some lessons that afternoon that I hope can help you.

First, I relearned the value of systems. I had my out-of-control flight system memorized verbatim, and it may have saved my life. In a jet, when you have 30 seconds until you must eject, there is no time to flip through a book to find the answer.

In the same way, systems can make or break your business or organization. For every decision that can be made in the planning room, there are two that need to be made on the spot.

A good decision made now is better than a great decision made too late. And the key to timely decision making is good systems.

If the people in your organization know ahead of time what to decide when they are empowered to make decisions, they will be successful, and so will you.

Incidentally, one of the very first things I do with a new client is find ways that they can systematize their business (i.e. put it on autopilot). Who wants to run a company if it means you have to be there all of the time? That’s what systems are for.

And once systems are in place, not only does the business usually explode in profits, but the owner normally starts taking some long vacations without his computer or cell phone.

Second, I learned that there are some times when you just have to let go.

In this case, the flight control computers in the F-18 were smarter (and faster) than the (mildly attractive) pilot who had gotten it into this mess.

The $40 million airplane knew better. So I let go, and it made all the difference in the world.

In the same way, as a leader in your organization (or in your home), it’s likely there are ways that you need to let go.

Is it possible that someone in your organization is better equipped to solve certain problems than you are?

Do you empower your people to solve problems — even if they are problems you have created?

Like many fighter pilots, leaders can soon become phenomenal control freaks. However, great leaders are not afraid to admit that sometimes they are not the right people to solve certain problems. Great leaders know when to let go.

Are things getting out of control? Whether it’s $4 on the line or $40 million, the answer is simple:

Follow your systems and let go!

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The rare few who have spent a significant amount of time in the cockpit of an F-18 fighter jet knows the value of strategy and the power of focus. Ed Rush is a speaker, a 4-time #1 best selling author, and a successful business consultant who has effectively taken the principles that he learned flying faster than the speed of sound, and translated them into good business. Ed has helped tens of thousands of attendees and clients get more done in less time, with less waste. He is also serves as the "secret weapon" to over 312 companies and his books have been featured on CBS, FOX, ABC, NBC and in the Opus Movie. To book Ed for Speaking or Consulting head over to www.EdRush.com.

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