Focal length-the long and short

The current state of the financial and enterprise markets reminds me of something I learned while teaching rookie pilots to fly planes. It turns out both have something in common. It matters how far you are looking forward.

During my teaching career I have encountered a number of pilots who have trouble developing a knack for smooth landings. I can say the same for some economists but that is another story. One of the most troubling students I have encountered was actually passed off to me by another instructor for whom I have a great deal of respect. It turns out that this student had been practicing for nearly 100 hours and had yet to master landings. This is an unusually high amount of time but I took on the challenge anyway. It turned out that I did not have to experience too many of this students landings to realize that the problem was where the pilot was focusing during the last few seconds of the landing. The student was focused too close in.

One of the age old lessons in aviation is that when approaching a landing at nearly 100 miles an hour it pays to look a bit further out than just over the nose of the airplane. Sometimes it is required that you look beyond the available runway in order to determine if the landing will be a smooth one, taking corrective action when any deviation is noted. If the focus is too close in you can lose all sense of distance and it becomes a guessing game as to how the landing will turn out. It usually turns out bad by the way. By selecting a view that incorporates the horizon even small deviations can be corrected early in the process and almost always the result is a desirable one, and the pilot is rewarded with praise from his or her passengers. Too bad that some enterprise executives suffer from the same focal length problem during high stress times just prior to "landing". Those that are able to be aware of what is going on close in but remain focused on the horizon are usually rewarded with a smooth landing and everyone wins.

Sounds a lot like Wall Street these days don't you think? Too much focus on the close in and not enough on the horizon results in a hard landing and a bad lesson. Enterprise CIOs and other executives should use this as a learning event. Focus a little further down the runway for a better outcome. It works every time.