Plan, Brief, Execute, Debrief, Win

How Flawless Execution Works in Our World as Fighter Pilots.

PLAN. We begin every mission with a detailed plan. We use a highly refined process called the SIX STEPS TO COMBAT MISSION PLANNING. The plan starts with an objective that is clear, measurable, and achievable — and it supports your company's overall strategy.

BRIEF. Next you communicate the plan. Fighter Pilots call this a "Briefing". It's essential that people on the front lines know exactly what is expected of them. Businesses ignore this — often to their peril.

EXECUTE. Now it's time to execute the mission. Generally, there is one thing that gets in your way of flawlessly executing your mission. It is called Task Saturation, which, simply put, is task overload. You and your team have so many competing priorities that you have a melt-down. In the cockpit, this could look like an engine fire during a landing. Alarms go off. Lights flash. But the pilot still must focus on his primary job of landing the plane.

In business, this could be any day in a manager's life when the pace of business is out of control. The manager must manage people, do his own work and deal with hundreds of items that keep him from his primary business objective. This is Task Saturation and it causes an overwhelming sinking feeling. Overwhelmed people can't function. So they drain themselves and the entire organization and keep you from accomplishing your goals.

Our ultimate goal — YOUR ULTIMATE GOAL — is to execute the perfect mission. As Fighter Pilots, we use highly-developed techniques to help minimize Task Saturation in our cockpits. We will teach your team how to develop and use these tools in your own unique working situation as part of your workplace arsenal.

DEBRIEF. The last step is the Debriefing. After each mission, we hold a nameless, rankless Debrief. Each person, without fear of reprimand, rehashes what worked, what did not work and why both the good events and the bad ones happened. We then take the key Lessons Learned from the Debrief and apply them to the next plan. The Debrief speeds up learning. It lets us fine-tune the processes that ensure your success.

WIN. Winning itself is not our goal. Our goal is to win by implementing a disciplined management process. We only really win if we have planned carefully, briefed our plan thoroughly, executed our plan with discipline, and debriefed the mission. Luck can lead to these results some of the time, but it can't be easily duplicated every time without a disciplined process. A disciplined process can. In the end, real winning happens when we apply the tools of Flawless Execution — whether in a fighter jet or on your "business battlefield".