The Plane is Falling. What are You Going to Do?

I’m always struck by how lessons from one field can apply broadly to others. One such lesson came from a conversation I had with a friend who’s been a commercial airline pilot for over 30 years. I asked him about his experiences in flight simulators, where instructors create unusual scenarios that could cause a crash. I was curious how he managed those situations—and what he had learned from them.

His answer was surprisingly simple: “Know your plane, and push the stick.”

He explained that the first part—know your plane—meant deeply understanding how all the systems work together to keep the aircraft flying: the electronics, the control surfaces, the engines, and the physics of flight. A pilot who knows how these components interact can quickly recognize what’s happening when something fails.

The second part—push the stick—was less obvious but just as critical. Many simulator scenarios are designed to mimic equipment failures. In these situations, the instruments might indicate that everything is fine, while in reality the plane is losing altitude. The only way to uncover what’s really happening is to act—by pushing the stick. It doesn’t even matter which direction. The act itself changes the dynamics of the situation and generates new information. If, for example, a sensor is feeding false data, pushing the stick helps reveal which one is faulty. Doing nothing, however, means the plane continues to fall—and the pilot gains no new insight.

That struck me as a perfect metaphor for leadership. First, managers need to understand how all the parts of their business operate (i.e. components of a plane). If parts of the business are opaque to a manager, they won’t understand how changes they make affect overall outcomes. Second, they need to understand the environment their business and products operate in (i.e. the physics of flying). If a manager doesn’t understand the business environment, then they cannot react to changes in the environment that are critical to the business. Finally, managers need to be action oriented. Often managers face situations where results are declining but the reason is unclear. Too often, they wait, hoping the problems resolve. The best leaders “push the stick.” They make a move—not because it guarantees success, but because it creates clarity. Action produces feedback, and feedback creates learning.

As Teddy Roosevelt put it:“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The next best thing is the wrong thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing.”

In aviation, urgency forces action. In business, that urgency isn’t counted in minutes—but the principle is the same: when the plane is falling, push the stick.

Tips and Techniques

• Understand how all parts of your organization work together to produce outcomes. Don't rely on assumptions.

• Understand the environment your business operates in, especially what's important to your customers and how competitors are attempting to fill those needs.

• Be action oriented. No decision is often the worst decision.