lessons from a plane flight
- There is no free lunch. Sitting next to an exit door will give you more leg space. But on the other hand you will be the last person receiving meal since the distribution starts (simultaneously) from the two ends of the plane. And since you get to choose the last, you will be left with the crappier meal option.
- Sometimes your leader will lie to you for your own good. Just about ten minutes before the arrival time, the pilot announced that our landing time was being delayed due to heavy traffic at the airport. Then we circulated around the airport for about half an hour. My friend was agitated. He cursed at the pilot and complained about the infrastructural inefficiencies and deficiencies of Istanbul. The truth was that there was no traffic. We could not land because the city was being combed with the heaviest surface winds in its near history. (I knew this in advance due to a phone call just before the departure.) The pilot chose to tell another story in order to avoid an unnecessary panic.
- Leading people in a territory with many unpredictable elements requires guts. I knew what was expecting us when the pilot finally announced that we had obtained the permission to land. It was an absolute roller-coster experience. (I remember myself uttering several "Bismillah"s in a reflexive fashion. I am agnostic!) If I was in charge of the plane, I would have probably directed it to another airport. Perhaps I am extremely risk averse when it comes to making decisions about other peoples' lives. Anyways the decision required real guts. That is indisputable.
- Spread the risks. Never put all eggs in one basket. The whole executive team of our company was flying together. We should have splitted the group and flied separately. If the plane had crashed, the company would have gone along with it.
- Sometimes your leader will lie to you for your own good. Just about ten minutes before the arrival time, the pilot announced that our landing time was being delayed due to heavy traffic at the airport. Then we circulated around the airport for about half an hour. My friend was agitated. He cursed at the pilot and complained about the infrastructural inefficiencies and deficiencies of Istanbul. The truth was that there was no traffic. We could not land because the city was being combed with the heaviest surface winds in its near history. (I knew this in advance due to a phone call just before the departure.) The pilot chose to tell another story in order to avoid an unnecessary panic.
- Leading people in a territory with many unpredictable elements requires guts. I knew what was expecting us when the pilot finally announced that we had obtained the permission to land. It was an absolute roller-coster experience. (I remember myself uttering several "Bismillah"s in a reflexive fashion. I am agnostic!) If I was in charge of the plane, I would have probably directed it to another airport. Perhaps I am extremely risk averse when it comes to making decisions about other peoples' lives. Anyways the decision required real guts. That is indisputable.
- Spread the risks. Never put all eggs in one basket. The whole executive team of our company was flying together. We should have splitted the group and flied separately. If the plane had crashed, the company would have gone along with it.
