In aviation, you learn to trust your instruments. Especially when you're flying in the clouds, and visibility is limited, it's easy to get disoriented. Luckily we've got all sorts of gadgets to tell us what's going on with the airplane. If, for example, we have a vague sense of "blue skies ahead," but we see airspeed increasing and altitude decreasing... that "blue sky" might actually be the ocean -- and best avoided.
In work and life on the ground, we need objective data to help us see the reality of what's going on. I've got two systems for this:
1. As a Human: I track weekly data for how I'm doing Personally, Physically, and Emotionally.
2. As a Business Leader: Each week, the team submits ratings for how they are feeling in terms of Happiness, Workload, and Stress.
These processes help me acknowledge issues quickly (via conditional formatting and a handy dashboard, of course), and address them proactively.
As a result, there is clarity about how we're doing, and what needs to change in order to keep us on track.
If we cling to the illusion that the ocean is the sky, we're going to get into trouble... fast. So. Develop your instruments, and then trust them like your life depends on it.
