With many years of work experience in a high-risk environment as an active pilot and as a manager, proactively dealing with decisions and errors in my daily professional life comes naturally to me. In dialogue with colleagues from a wide range of organisations, I am constantly amazed at how leadership, decision-making processes and error culture are handled elsewhere and what resources lie idle there.

In order for teams to function smoothly, both in normal working life and in pressure situations, there are certain prerequisites. This is no different in aviation than in any other organisation. Who did not experience it: a small branch on the path suddenly transforms into a tree trunk that makes it difficult to move forward. In a complex and volatile working world, employees and managers are confronted with such challenges every day, which demand solutions from them. But how exactly does one arrive at a suitable solution? Numerous efficient methods have been established in aviation over the decades. Be it an open approach to errors, a non-punitive and just organisational culture, an institutionalised feedback system or agile teamwork and decision-making – to name but a few. Managers and teams at all levels and in all sectors can benefit from these methods.

Methods that have been proven and used on a daily basis in aviation since decades also help you and your organisation to become more efficient and effective in daily collaboration and in dealing with errors. In the cockpit, we simply cannot afford any friction losses or inefficiencies. Open organisational culture and error management are essential success factors for a modern, innovation-friendly and motivating work-, error- and learning-environment.

How about your organisation?