Recently I had the pleasure of being a passenger in a small private airplane. The pilot, the owner of the airplane welcomed me then instructed me to just sit in my seat while he went through his pre-flight check list that was printed on a laminated card. So I just sat there while he spent about ten minutes checking the exterior of the plane, the quality and amount of fuel, fluid levels, the settings and workability of the controls, and various instruments. Finally he looked around, hollered “Contact” and pressed the starter button. The motor started, we taxied to the runway then surged into the sky. We flew to another city and, as we approached the airport to land the craft, he pulled out the checklist and went through the same procedure checking everything before landing.
As we walked away from the plane I asked him, “How long have you been flying?”
“About ten years” he replied.
“Haven’t you memorized the procedure for taking off and landing by now?”
“Of course I have.”
“Then why do you bother using the printed checklist each time?”
“Well, I’m sure you’ve read a story in the newspaper about an airplane that lands on its belly because the pilot forgot to lower the wheels? That’s not going to happen to me! I was taught to always use my checklist every time I take off and every time I land. I always do it. I have never had a problem and don’t plan on ever having one.”
He’s right of course. In our normal existence we do many routine tasks almost unconsciously. Ever since that conversation I have started working on being more conscious and intentional about my routine-yet-important tasks with a goal of never “landing the plane with the wheels up.” I’ve created written checklists to insure I do them right every time. I encourage you to look at the routine tasks at your company, write checklists for them. You’ll be sure to “lower the wheels every time.”
Larry Galler coaches and consults with high-performance executives, professionals, and small businesses since 1993. He is the writer of the long-running (every Sunday since November 2001) business column, “Front Lines with Larry Galler” Sign up for his free newsletter at
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