You and your staff are now a passenger airplane crew—how successful are you?
14/12/06 15:23 Filed in: Focus on
Mission
15F, 16F, 17F, and 18F—my family and I are
all in window seats on UA7590, traveling from Grand
Rapids to Chicago. We boarded on schedule
(gate B1 at 11:00 a.m. on July 17, 2006), we departed
on schedule (11:20 a.m.), and we’re now soaring
across Lake Michigan. I’m glad we’re flying, not
swimming or sailing. That would take too long, and we
might get lost.
The crew is focusing on getting us to Chicago, both safely and on time—that’s clear. The pilot’s just come on the PA system, said that we’re 75 miles from Chicago, that we’ll land in the next 10-15 minutes, and that it’s 86 degrees in Chicago. Now the flight attendant is listing connecting gates: Tokyo, C10; Boston, B1; San Francisco, C17; Hong Kong, C16; and Minneapolis (our final destination), C11.
Now the lead flight attendant says, “Please check your seat pocket for trash. Please give it to the flight attendant who is coming down the aisle. Lock your tray tables, fasten your seatbelts, and put your seats in the upright position. Turn off electronic devices.” I’m glad she is giving instructions, instructions that will help us arrive safely and on time. We’ve paid for our tickets so we can visit my brother and his family in Minneapolis, and we want to make our connecting flight at gate C11.
I look at my watch: 10:45 a.m. As the plane banks left, I see Lake Michigan’s shoreline and Chicago. A few minutes more and we’ll be over dry land, descending as we go. My guess is that our pilot is using a compass, an altimeter, and a speedometer as he talks with Chicago about our approach and the runway we are to land on.
10:49—dry land. I see trees, houses, 3 golf courses, and a highway with cars speeding along it. We continue our descent. 10:52—our landing gear is in place. I can now read store signs. 10:53—touch down. We’re here, taxiing to our gate.
The lead flight attendant says, “Welcome to Chicago O’Hare International Airport. The local time is 10:53. Please stay seated with your seatbelts fastened until we turn off the ‘fasten seatbelt’ sign.” We taxi along Concourse C, arriving at C9 at 10:59. Ding—the “fasten seatbelt” sign is off.
Success. We have been transported on schedule from gate B11 in Grand Rapids International Airport to gate C9 at Chicago O’Hare in plenty of time to board our 12:00 flight to Minneapolis at gate C11.
I’m glad the crew got us to the right gate, in the right concourse, in the right airport—not the wrong gate, the wrong concourse (so far away from C11 that we have to run to make the connection), or the wrong airport (Midway is another airport in Chicago).
I’m glad the crew didn’t just have a mission to get us from anywhere in Grand Rapids (airport or otherwise) to anywhere in Chicago (any airport, land on a highway, have us parachute out over downtown...).
The crew had a defined mission: On July 17, 2006, safely transport the passengers on UA7590 from B11 at Grand Rapids International Airport to C9 at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, departing 11:20 a.m. and arriving 11:15 a.m.
Now imagine: You and your staff are now a passenger airplane crew. I’m considering flying with you. Please answer 3 questions:
(1) Do you and your crew have a general or defined mission? Are you safely transporting passengers from somewhere in Grand Rapids to somewhere in Chicago? Or are you safely transporting passengers from gate B11 in Grand Rapids International Airport to gate C9 in Chicago O’Hare International Airport, departing 11:20 on July 17 and arriving at 11:15? Personally, I refuse to fly with a crew that doesn’t have a specifically defined mission.
What kind of mission does your organization have? If your organization has general mission (Christian Academy in Japan, a school for the children of evangelical missionaries in Japan, equips students to impact the world for Christ), take the next step and specifically define what it means to achieve your mission. Take this step ASAP.
(2) To what extent do you and your crew focus on achieving your defined mission? What behaviors demonstrate that you are focused on getting from B11 to C9? Are there any behaviors that don’t demonstrate this? If so, do you want those behaviors to continue? As a passenger, I really, really want the crew to focus on achieving the defined mission. After all, I paid for the ticket.
To what extent do you and your staff focus on achieving your mission, your defined mission? To maintain and increase focus on your defined mission, what behaviors do you and your staff need to keep doing? Start doing? Stop doing?
(3) To what extent are you and your crew achieving your defined mission? Do you arrive safely, on time, at the correct destination? What is your success rate? As a passenger, I want to depart from the right place at the right time, and I want to arrive in the right place at the right time, preferably 100% of the time.
As an organization, to what extent are you achieving your mission, your defined mission? Can you give me a percentage? If you’re not sure, how can you find out? How would knowing this percentage help you and your staff?
Bottom line: I fly with airplane crews that have defined missions, that focus on achieving the defined mission, and that have a very high rate of achieving the defined mission. Should I fly with you?
The crew is focusing on getting us to Chicago, both safely and on time—that’s clear. The pilot’s just come on the PA system, said that we’re 75 miles from Chicago, that we’ll land in the next 10-15 minutes, and that it’s 86 degrees in Chicago. Now the flight attendant is listing connecting gates: Tokyo, C10; Boston, B1; San Francisco, C17; Hong Kong, C16; and Minneapolis (our final destination), C11.
Now the lead flight attendant says, “Please check your seat pocket for trash. Please give it to the flight attendant who is coming down the aisle. Lock your tray tables, fasten your seatbelts, and put your seats in the upright position. Turn off electronic devices.” I’m glad she is giving instructions, instructions that will help us arrive safely and on time. We’ve paid for our tickets so we can visit my brother and his family in Minneapolis, and we want to make our connecting flight at gate C11.
I look at my watch: 10:45 a.m. As the plane banks left, I see Lake Michigan’s shoreline and Chicago. A few minutes more and we’ll be over dry land, descending as we go. My guess is that our pilot is using a compass, an altimeter, and a speedometer as he talks with Chicago about our approach and the runway we are to land on.
10:49—dry land. I see trees, houses, 3 golf courses, and a highway with cars speeding along it. We continue our descent. 10:52—our landing gear is in place. I can now read store signs. 10:53—touch down. We’re here, taxiing to our gate.
The lead flight attendant says, “Welcome to Chicago O’Hare International Airport. The local time is 10:53. Please stay seated with your seatbelts fastened until we turn off the ‘fasten seatbelt’ sign.” We taxi along Concourse C, arriving at C9 at 10:59. Ding—the “fasten seatbelt” sign is off.
Success. We have been transported on schedule from gate B11 in Grand Rapids International Airport to gate C9 at Chicago O’Hare in plenty of time to board our 12:00 flight to Minneapolis at gate C11.
I’m glad the crew got us to the right gate, in the right concourse, in the right airport—not the wrong gate, the wrong concourse (so far away from C11 that we have to run to make the connection), or the wrong airport (Midway is another airport in Chicago).
I’m glad the crew didn’t just have a mission to get us from anywhere in Grand Rapids (airport or otherwise) to anywhere in Chicago (any airport, land on a highway, have us parachute out over downtown...).
The crew had a defined mission: On July 17, 2006, safely transport the passengers on UA7590 from B11 at Grand Rapids International Airport to C9 at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, departing 11:20 a.m. and arriving 11:15 a.m.
Now imagine: You and your staff are now a passenger airplane crew. I’m considering flying with you. Please answer 3 questions:
(1) Do you and your crew have a general or defined mission? Are you safely transporting passengers from somewhere in Grand Rapids to somewhere in Chicago? Or are you safely transporting passengers from gate B11 in Grand Rapids International Airport to gate C9 in Chicago O’Hare International Airport, departing 11:20 on July 17 and arriving at 11:15? Personally, I refuse to fly with a crew that doesn’t have a specifically defined mission.
What kind of mission does your organization have? If your organization has general mission (Christian Academy in Japan, a school for the children of evangelical missionaries in Japan, equips students to impact the world for Christ), take the next step and specifically define what it means to achieve your mission. Take this step ASAP.
(2) To what extent do you and your crew focus on achieving your defined mission? What behaviors demonstrate that you are focused on getting from B11 to C9? Are there any behaviors that don’t demonstrate this? If so, do you want those behaviors to continue? As a passenger, I really, really want the crew to focus on achieving the defined mission. After all, I paid for the ticket.
To what extent do you and your staff focus on achieving your mission, your defined mission? To maintain and increase focus on your defined mission, what behaviors do you and your staff need to keep doing? Start doing? Stop doing?
(3) To what extent are you and your crew achieving your defined mission? Do you arrive safely, on time, at the correct destination? What is your success rate? As a passenger, I want to depart from the right place at the right time, and I want to arrive in the right place at the right time, preferably 100% of the time.
As an organization, to what extent are you achieving your mission, your defined mission? Can you give me a percentage? If you’re not sure, how can you find out? How would knowing this percentage help you and your staff?
Bottom line: I fly with airplane crews that have defined missions, that focus on achieving the defined mission, and that have a very high rate of achieving the defined mission. Should I fly with you?