Business Crisis management: Keep Calm and Apply the A-N-C priorities

 

The COVID 19 virus crisis has changed the world that we know.

Did anyone really see this coming?

 The 2020 pandemic has changed the world upside down without notification.

 Many people might have lost their jobs as businesses and industries collapsed almost out of the blue. Suddenly all horizons were clouded and unclear.

 Are you able to stay CALM during any crisis period?  

Few of us will be able to say ’yes’ with confidence. That is why some form of emergency guidelines are of great importance.

 Do you have a system that can guide you through a crisis?

 One of the first things I was taught 40 years ago during my student pilot training days, was to always Keep Calm and to adhere to an important set of priorities that  I followed  through my entire flying training and my later business career: Aviate, Navigate, and Communicate (aka A-N-C).

Keep calm and ANC

 These priorities are said to have been in use since WW1. 

The top priority — always — is to AVIATE. Technically that means to keep on flying by using every control and instrument as best as you can to direct the airplane’s attitude, airspeed, and altitude. 

While keeping calm and keeping the aircraft in the air, the pilot will simultaneously, with no less importance than Aviating, try to figure out where he is and the way forward, which you might recognize as the Navigating part of the priorities. On top of that comes Communicating to the Air Traffic Controller (ATC) or with another pilot in another craft. 

As you can imagine, all three of these actions are of the same importance and everything must happen in the same moment - not an easy task when you are under stress! 

The A-N-C priorities seems simple to remember and follow, however it does not matter if you are navigating and communicating perfectly according to the text book, if you lose control of the aircraft, you will crash. 

A famous case in point 

A famous example of a failure to aviate is the December 1972 crash of Flight 401, an Eastern Airlines Lockheed L-1011. The entire crew was 

single-mindedly focused on the malfunction of a landing gear position indicator light. No one was left to keep the plane in the air, as it headed towards a shallow descent into the Florida Everglades.

Four professional aviators — any one of whom could have detected the descent — were so focused on a non-critical task that they failed to detect and arrest the descent, resulting in 99 fatalities. They did not follow established aviation priorities — they failed to aviate! 

My own scary experience. 

Low and behold, I needed this advice sooner than I could imagine. 

One of the great and proud moments comes for a trainee pilot when the instructor allows him/her the first SOLO flight, you alone in the aircraft with the instructor somewhere on the ground communicating via radio. 

My first, very nervous SOLO flight occurred without an incidence, probably due to the Arrogance, Naivety and Confidence of a daring 21year-old know-it-all student. However, it caught me during my second SOLO flight. 

As part of my second SOLO flight routines I had to perform a simulated emergency landing on an isolated runway strip on a farm some distance from our base airfield. 

The objectives of a simulated emergency landing during training is to apply all the procedures of an emergency landing. You actually touch the runway but then take off again immediately and continue with the rest of the training exercise. 

It was the final stages of my approach to the runway. I was so focussed on aviating and getting the speed down gradually, keeping the wings straight, communicating my status to the instructor and looking straight ahead that  

I did not notice a herd of cows about to cross the farmer’s runway from my left side!  Seconds before my emergency landing act my eye caught the leader of the herd, just about to step onto the runway. I was already very low on speed, but at that moment my training drills kicked in! I remained CALM, abandoned the emergency landing routine, increased power and just cleared the first cow as I was gaining height again! 

That day, staying calm and the embedded A-N-C priorities saved my life, and probably that of a cow or two as well! Afterwards I realized than the whole incident must have taken less than 5 seconds. To me that 5 seconds had not only felt like a lifetime, but it has remained with me for the rest of my life by influencing and shaping my future life and business. 

How to apply the A-N-C priorities in business? 

AVIATE your business 

·      Focus: Just as a pilot must overcome a tendency to focus too much on distractions that can occur during a busy flight, a business owner must also avoid losing focus on the most pressing task at hand: aviating or maintaining positive control of the business. 

·      Rely on metrics: How is this accomplished? By having a set of metrics in place that can be monitored (much like flight instruments) so that you always know exactly how your business is performing. 

·      Communicate your Vision: While it is important to have a vision for how you want your business to grow (or, the direction in which you would like to navigate) and a strategy for communicating this vision to stakeholders, neither of these focuses should be given priority over maintaining positive control of the business. 

NAVIGATE your business 

In aviation terms this means keeping the plane on course, i.e. do not crash the plane as you deal with your challenge. This is also about assessing the current situation and quickly coming up with your options. In business you must always steer the business in the right direction. 

·      Obscured view: If you have a sandstorm obscuring your view, check your navigation instruments for assistance. In business, make sure that you have a “helicopter” view of the situation. 

·      SOS: Your radio works - ask for help.

Look out the side windows to see the balancing attitude of your wings to the ground, etc. Never be afraid to consult an expert when structuring a PlanB. 

·      Altitude: check through your side windows to determine the altitude of your wings to the ground. Are you climbing, level or descending?

Do you know the exact status of your business? 

·      Destination: You should have an alternative airport already in mind in case of an emergency. In business, where outcomes and achieved goals are everything, you must know where you are going and keep your business on course. 

·      Resources: To do this you need to be clear on what you want to achieve and use all resources to get you to your objective. 

·      Plan B: Review and rethink your current options, gather all available information to make an informed business decision and have an active Plan B in place in case things do not go as planned. 

COMMUNICATE your PLAN B 

In Aviate and Navigate you have assessed and got your plane under control. Now you need to share your ongoing plan and intentions. 

·      Deviation: Perhaps you have deviated from your course. You will need to consider who you’re talking to - if you have entered restricted airspace, it will be a very different conversation with a lot more questions to answer than if you had just deviated from your intended course. Talk to your business stakeholders about the deviation you are about to implement. 

·      Feedback: Communication around the challenge is based on the correct feedback you are receiving. It needs to be accurate at the time and based on facts as known: 

-       Crew: Your personnel are another consideration. They are already aware and concerned so you need to assure them that you are in charge – as evidenced by your actions- and have the situation under control. Talk to your employees and colleagues. 

-       Passengers: The communications will also be very different within the business as opposed to what you say to your customer or regulatory authority and will create a perception of you. It will negatively impact you if it is not handled correctly. Communicate with your customers. 

·      Feedforward: Communication in business must be informative. You must communicate your intentions and plans, assure people of actions being taken or underway, that the situation is being controlled or contained and when they can expect an update. Always tell your employees and customers where you are heading. 

Aviate, Navigate, Communicate 

Just as the three priorities of aviating, navigating, and communicating should be ingrained in any pilot’s mind while at the controls of an aircraft, the ways in which these priorities relate to business should be in the mind of any business owner or manager. 

It is always important to have a plan, and to know in what direction you want to take your business. It is also important to know how to communicate this plan to stakeholders. Still, regardless of what kinds of distractions may arise, it is always vital to remember to have control of the business first. 

So, what will you do in a crisis? 

The takeaway from my experiences is to, stay CALM, remember the Activate, Navigate and Communicate (A-N-C) priorities that are so important in the flying business, can also help you to overcome any crisis that you may have in your business situation. 

Have a Plan B in place for most contingencies will improve your confidence, so that you can overcome any crisis that you have to deal with.

 If you liked or agreed with this article or if you have any comments or questions, please write them below. I am looking forward to hearing from you.

 

The sky is the limit.

         Johan Swart

 

Business and Lifestyle Coach. I coach and mentor business executives. I help you to define and achieve your goals. Contact me and I will show you how.