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ENGAGE TREND REPORT 10.05.09
Could you land Flight 1549?
Recent interviews with Capt. Chesley Sullenberger underscore the role that experience and training played in the miraculous river landing.
Capt. Sullenberger said he had his work cut out for him.
"I needed to touch down with the wings exactly level," he said. "I needed to touch down with the nose slightly up. I needed to touch down at...a descent rate that was survivable. And I needed to touch down just above our minimum flying speed but not below it. And I needed to make all these things happen simultaneously."
Not only did he bring 29 years of experience to the moment, but like all pilots he'd benefited from hundreds of hours of Flight Simulator training before ever touching a fighter plane or a commercial jet.
Try the landing yourself. See if your success increases with practice.
It's a tangible affirmation of the theory on performance excellence put forth in the Malcolm Gladwell book Outliers. The idea - that excellence at a complex task requires a critical, minimum level of practice - surfaces again and again in studies of expertise. Researchers have uncovered a magic number for true expertise: 10,000 hours.
Endless practice has elevated Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald's "predictive control." to track the ball's flight pattern - to the point where he can catch it with his eyes closed.
The lessons for businesses? Training works. Practice makes perfect. Now, some companies are using develop "Flight Simulators" for their own workforces through game-based technology. A step by step "Sim" immerses employees in key scenarios, to experience culture, mission, values concepts and skills. The strategy: give them the confidence to man the controls - and be able do their jobs with their eyes closed before even touching the customer.
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