Skip to main content

Maintaining Focus



On November 10th, 2010, Qantas Flight 32 took off from Changi en route to Sydney, Australia with Captain Richard Champion de Crespigny commanding the aircraft. Shortly after takeoff, at just 7,400 feet, disaster struck as one of the engines exploded under the wing. The blast not only completely destroyed the engine, but it sent shards of metal traveling all directions, slicing holes in the hull and the wing of the aircraft. Molten shrapnel from engine tore through the plane, destroying fuel lines, hydraulics and electrical systems. As the plane began hemorrhaging fuel and fluid on top of the loss of electrical power and computer capabilities, the stress to the aircraft began shutting down other ancillary systems and the aircraft quickly lost nearly all functionality.

Bells, alarms and alerts started blaring as one by one, twenty-one of the twenty –two operating systems within the aircraft had either become completely inoperable or irreparably damaged. Co-pilots began relaying errors reported by their computer to de Crespigny but they couldn’t keep up. Things were getting worse faster than they could update their captain. Eventually, de Crespigny had to request that his crew stop giving him updates. Instead of trying to keep up with everything that was going wrong, he asked his co-pilots to let him know what was still operational and functioning. He needed them to focus on what was still working.

The plane was no longer air-worthy, the wing had lost its structural integrity and the aircraft was quickly losing altitude as they made their way to Singapore Changi Airport for an emergency landing. I don’t have room for all the details, but despite being the most extensively damaged Airbus to ever execute a successful landing – even the landing gear and breaks were severely compromised – Captain de Crespigny miraculously brought in the plane safely. Not a single passenger was injured.

In a situation where panic and fear would overwhelm even the most experienced of pilots, Captain de Crespigny was able to remain composed and maintain focus. Why, because he was able to keep up with everything going wrong? No, it was because he was able to intensely focus on what was still going right and fully leveraging everything he had – little as it was – that was still working.

It’s human nature to get caught up in the hurdles, setbacks, bad breaks and everything going wrong. But sometimes, especially when life hits you with a storm, you must ignore everything that’s broken and commit your attention to what is still working. There will always be plenty of failures and malfunctions to steal your attention, but if you can remember to focus on the tools and skills still available, you’ll realize you still have what you need to land the plane.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Toxic Humility

We have all seen false humility: the guy who tries to hide his arrogance with feigned modesty. It’s usually pretty obvious and always obnoxious. But there is also another variation of false humility out there: toxic humility. This is often displayed in self-deprecating talk and a lack of self-confidence, belittling or undermining one’s own talents and abilities. The danger in this kind of behavior is twofold: it is too often accepted as true humility and like a virus, it spreads doubt and disbelief. To clarify, it is not that the bearer of this toxic humility isn’t honest about his view of himself. That is the very issue: he absolutely believes he has little value or utility. He thinks downplaying his own worth is humility but I disagree. CS Lewis said it best when he wrote, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking about yourself less.” His point being, true humility is not an ever-present raincloud of self-doubt that follows you around. It’s a focus on
Post a Comment
Read more

Commitment

  You know what the problem is with a lot of goals and grand plans? They are mostly fueled by emotion rather than commitment. It is why most New Year’s Resolutions are long forgotten by now and many aspirations quietly fizzle out over time. True commitment is sticking with the effort even – if and especially when – the emotion has diminished or disappeared. Emotion can be a great initiator of action, like kindling on a fire, but it lacks staying power. Commitment is the logs that keep the fire burning long after the kindling is consumed. The butterflies after falling in love, the best intentions of waking up at 4:30am every day to work out after you join a new gym, the excitement of your first day on campus, even the sleep-deprivation induced euphoria of a new baby: all kindling. But it is commitment that keeps you working hard on the marriage twenty-three years after “I do.” It is what causes you to keep going when you do not want to make one more sales call, do one more presentat
Post a Comment
Read more

Glutton for Punishment

I’ve learned over the years that being comfortable can be a dangerous thing. I try to find paths to discomfort to push me out of my realm of “safety.” However, I have noticed my ability to develop comfort zones amidst discomfort. I’ve found ways to be comfortable in uncomfortable circumstances. I wonder, do I need to be stretched beyond those areas as well? One of the areas in which I have adapted to the discomfort is the gym. I don’t go to the gym to exercise, to get stronger or even to be healthier. It’s grown beyond that. Now, I go to the gym to clear my head by testing my will and resolve. I do it to see how hard I can push my limits and I strive to outwork everyone else there. I may not be the strongest, the fastest or the fittest. I may not lift the most weight or even do the most reps – I can’t control any of those variables – but I can control my effort. So one of my goals for each workout is to unleash more effort than anyone else at the gym. But along with this
Post a Comment
Read more