Keep Things Simple
Aviation is a technological wonder, but the fundamentals of flight are driven by very simple physics laws. Air flows across the wings, the difference in air pressure around the wings generates lift, airplanes fly. During the early days of my training, I was surprised to see that my flight deck instruments were rudimentary. Most important ones were powered by nothing more than the wind. It was amazing to realize that such simple systems were enough to achieve flight.
Today we are inundated with technology in every corner of our lives. Cars, phones and houses are becoming smarter, sophisticated and interconnected. It’s easy for systems to accumulate complexity, but it’s incredibly hard to shed it. Complexity increases gaps between incompletely understood facts and assumptions. As a leader, when you are faced with a crisis, can you cut to the chase and get to the root of the issue quickly?
You have the power of choice to keep things simple, but this is a demanding skill to master. You can start small by taking an inventory of your day—emails you send and receive, reports you view, meetings you attend, your personal agenda, etc.—to see if you can simplify those to be more effective at work.
Another thing I spent a lot of my time doing was analyzing how my team functions. Where do they spend most of their time? Why? Are there ways to rearrange processes to simplify those deep inner workings that eventually result in building a culture of simplicity?
