Business Lessons From the "Miracle on the Hudson"

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The "Miracle on the Hudson" occurred ten years ago today.
While this is a human interest story, there are lessons for business leaders. Here are a few.
  • Captain Sullenburger was a superb example of the power of hiring people with an appropriate aptitude and then training the heck out of them. Aptitude is a vital, but undervalued, ingredient to success. 
  • The power of teamwork. Take a look at the video, here. It takes just seconds for the emergency exits to open and escape rafts to appear. Why? The crew initiated the evacuation instantly. They knew exactly what to do not just because they trained; they rehearsed. Rehearsal is vital for mission-critical functions!
  • Airlines, and their passengers, learned the hard way in the 1970's and 80's that "cockpit resource management" was and is vital. Planes crashed because, to take one notorious case, all three pilots were troubleshooting an erroneous warning light and -- in clear weather -- allowed their jumbo jet to fly into the Everglades. Why? None of the three remembered to fly the plane. One hundred one people died. If you have seen the movie, Sully, you watched Captain Sullenburger say, after the bird strike, "My aircraft!" and First Officer Skiles replies, "Your aircraft!" There must be no doubt who is in charge during a crisis. 
Want to learn more about managing "low frequency/high impact" events? Just contact us!

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