I have always enjoyed using the analogy of flying a plane to explain or clarify a complex or unfamiliar concept by comparing it to a familiar one (I also use ‘building a house’ at times).
Some examples of flying a plane, I or others have used:
- Building a ‘hyper-growth business’: Flying a plane while trying to fix it at the same time – used for a situation where a person or organization must develop, modify, or repair a critical project, system, or strategy while it is already in use or operational
- Principles: At 30,000 feet, we all agree but you need to get to 20,000, 10,000, 5,000 feet to truly get in sync with each other – We can all agree on a ‘top line’ statement about culture or a principle, but because we are all different (different upbringings, backgrounds, beliefs, …), you really need to deep dive into the ‘top line’ statement to get to an understanding of how we each see the statement.
- I will talk more about this in next week’s Thought-for-the-Week
Who is flying, and landing, the plane in your organization?
I have recently read several articles on executive hiring, team composition, and effective teams. The articles each highlighted the importance of having a diversity of abilities, skills and experience on the team. In other words, if the team is full of people with the same experience, how will the team perform when the situation calls for a different experience or perspective? If the team is filled with a diversity of experience, how will the team perform if there is not the respect for the attributes each person brings to the table?
The usual starting point – though I would argue the mandatory starting point – would be in the vision or goal one is trying to achieve. We are not all visionary; some of us cannot see past this week, let alone 2 years from now. We are not all motivational and effective communicators; the voice that will inspire and get people behind the idea or keep the energy level high when things look hard. This is the person that I say is flying the plane at 30,000 feet. He/She sees the future better than others can see it.
But what does it take to ‘land the plane’, and go from 30,000 to 20,000 to 10,000 to 5,000 feet to touch down. It will most likely take different abilities, skills and experience. This is where the diversity of the team pays off. Here is where you may want, and need, the detailed oriented person, the stakeholder manager, the project manager, the engineer, … The point being is that the person flying the plane at 30,000 feet may not be the right person to land the plane.
Of course, there are exceptions where you have that one ‘unicorn’ individual that can do it all, but this is most likely not the norm, and is a risky long term strategy. There is also a balance. Sometimes we do not know how much we can achieve, but the person flying the plane sees what is possible and pushes us to achieve things we did not realize we could achieve. One other factor is that we all have different risk appetites. So how do you as a leader manage this?
Set the goal, guide the team, support and motivate the team, lean in and get your hands dirty when your experience and/or confidence can help the team get unstuck. But know when to hand off to the next level. You do not have the confidence in the hand off to the individual or team, then you did not build the right team.
Powerful ideas:
- “The greatest enemy of learning is knowing”, John Maxwell
- “Be who you are and do what you do, as long as you’re here for the team.” Pete Carroll
- Do not look to shine, look to make the guy next to you shine, France Rugby team
- “Don’t worry about the level of individual prominence you have achieved; worry about the individuals you have helped become better people.” – Clayton Christensen
- “There is no limit to what a man can do if he doesn’t mind who gets the credit” – Ronald Regean, a sign he kept on the Oval Desk
- “The lessons we took from our playing days still feel just as relevant now: staying composed under pressure, leading with purpose, and surrounding yourself with great people.” – Dan Carter, NZ Rugby
- Ideas are easy, execution is hard, a phrase we used at Builder
- The two most powerful warriors are patience and time
thought for the week 