James \u201cMurph\u201d Murphy is a former F-15 fighter pilot who left the Air Force after 12 years to enter the business world.\u00a0 In his book, \u201cFlawless Execution,\u201d he talks about the rigors of being a fighter pilot, about the exhaustive work pilots do as they prepare to fly a \u201cmission,\u201d and about the concentration and determination required to complete the mission successfully.\u00a0 He points out that as a pilot, when you\u2019re flying at 1200 miles per hour, a mistake can cost you your life and maybe the lives of your teammates.\u00a0 So as they prepare to fly a mission, fighter pilots engage in a process designed to minimize mistakes, complete the mission, and return home safely.\u00a0 In his book, he outlines how that same process he learned as a pilot to fly a mission flawlessly can be applied to business.\u00a0 To learn something about this process and how it might be applied to your business, please read below.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s all in the execution<\/strong>.<\/p>\n First, let\u2019s define a few terms.\u00a0 When Murphy talks about a \u201cmission,\u201d he\u2019s talking about flying with his team from Point A to Point B, using missiles or bombs to blow something up, then getting back to Point A with planes and pilots in tact.\u00a0 Generally speaking, as businesspeople, we\u2019re not supposed to blow stuff up . . . we\u2019re expected to use a little more finesse than dropping 2000 pound bombs on our competitors.\u00a0 So when we\u2019re talking about a mission in Murphy\u2019s business context, we\u2019re talking about any activity that has a beginning, an end, and an expected outcome or result.\u00a0 Therefore, a \u201cmission\u201d might be installing new accounting software in the Accounting Department, launching a new product or service by the Marketing Department, or a salesman going on a trip to call on a prospective new customer.<\/p>\n Second, in Murphy\u2019s scheme of things, \u201cflawless\u201d is an elusive goal that is rarely, if ever, achieved.\u00a0 When a professional athlete steps onto a playing field, he or she expects to win.\u00a0 Obviously, that doesn\u2019t always happen, but winning is the expectation.\u00a0 So \u201cflawless\u201d is a mindset and an aspiration, and a commitment to continuous improvement, not perfection.\u00a0 Let\u2019s face it, as human beings, we don\u2019t do perfection very well.\u00a0 But we can aim for it, and in some cases, come pretty darn close to it.<\/p>\n Murphy\u2019s process begins with meticulous preparation . . . considering every detail that will be required for our mission to be successful.\u00a0 What resources will we need?\u00a0 How will we get them?\u00a0 What might our competitors do to derail us?\u00a0 Who will be responsible for doing what?\u00a0 On and on until we have a complete game plan for our mission.\u00a0 Critically important to our preparation is contingency planning.\u00a0 Since we know nothing goes exactly<\/em><\/strong> to plan, let\u2019s figure out in advance what we\u2019ll do if this, that, or the other thing goes wrong.<\/p>\n Once our preparation is complete, we need to communicate our plans to everyone who has even the tiniest role in them.\u00a0 Our people need to see the \u201cbig picture,\u201d not just their narrow role in it.\u00a0 Sure, they need to thoroughly understand their responsibilities in this mission, but they also need to know what everybody else is doing and how all the various activities intersect and are dependent upon one another.<\/p>\n So we\u2019ve prepared carefully, we\u2019ve communicated our plans to everyone involved, everyone understands what they need to do, so now we go.\u00a0 We execute.\u00a0 During our preparation, we would have set up key metrics to track our mission\u2019s progress and to let us know when contingency plans or other corrective measures may be needed.<\/p>\n The next step is key.\u00a0 Some people call it a postmortem, Murphy calls it a \u201cdebrief.\u201d\u00a0 Either way, the idea is to gather everyone involved in the mission to discuss what went right, what went wrong, what worked, what didn\u2019t, and what we can change so that the next time we undertake this or a similar mission, we\u2019ll execute even better.\u00a0 Lessons learned from this mission will be integrated in to our preparation for the next mission.<\/p>\n Final step, we celebrate a win.\u00a0 We might have won ugly, we may not have achieved 100% of what we hoped for, but still, enough to declare a victory so we can move on.<\/p>\n So that\u2019s it.\u00a0 Prepare meticulously, communicate widely and thoroughly, execute as flawlessly as possible, critique the mission to improve future missions, celebrate the win, move on to the next mission.\u00a0 Repeat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" James \u201cMurph\u201d Murphy is a former F-15 fighter pilot who left the Air Force after 12 years to enter the business world.\u00a0 In his book, \u201cFlawless Execution,\u201d he talks about the rigors of being a fighter pilot, about the exhaustive work pilots do as they prepare to fly a \u201cmission,\u201d and about the concentration and<\/p>\n