Hope Isn’t a Plan

As a private pilot and an aviation enthusiast, I have the opportunity to attend all sorts of seminars related to improving my skills and staying safe in the skies.  Several weeks ago, I attended a session sponsored by the Air Safety Foundation (ASF – an organization with a very worthy mission) that was entitled “The Last Five Miles.”

It turns out that the overwhelming majority of general aviation accidents occur within five miles of the destination airport.  As a safety-conscious pilot, this is good to know – along with the reasons why these accidents occur.  By understanding the risk factors, I can become more aware, make better decisions, and fly more safely.

I have found that we can apply these same concepts in business.  For example: 

• Can you identify the “Last Five Miles” of activities for each of the critical job functions in your organization?  
   
• What are the most likely points of failure – 
  • in your sales process?
  • in delivering your products and/or services?
  • in completely satisfying your customers?
  • in other areas? 

Once you’ve identified these critical activities and most likely points of business risk, you have some good information to use in planning and decision-making.  Even better, you can predict that these things are likely to happen unless you put processes in place to work around or completely avoid them.   

This is, in essence, a very simple risk management process that you can use to rationally plan for unexpected, but not totally unanticipated events. 

In his closing remarks at the aviation safety seminar, the speaker said it best: “Hoping that nothing will go wrong isn’t a plan.”  If you take the time to understand the risk areas in your business, you can move from “hoping“ to knowing how your business will behave – with better outcomes – in the “Last Five Miles.” 

I wish you safe, predictable, and happy flying!