How Gliding has changed my view of Management Standards.

Regular readers of this blog will know that I recently started instruction to be a glider pilot.

Things have moved on nicely and the very patient instructors at the Essex and Suffolk Gliding Club have given me both the confidence to continue with the more difficult parts and to show me how not to make the same errors again. I am full of praise for them as they witness some of my worst transgressions with not even the hint of panic. One instructor mentioned that a little more speed during one of my landings would be good as he didn't want to die; he said it in such a quiet measured tone. If that had been me I would probably have raised my voice.

There have been other instances early on, where I failed to lower the nose of the glider when the cable released resulting in the onset of a stall but the Instructor simple said "push the stick forward a little".

I have been allowed to carry out the entire winch launch, fly straight and level on a heading, turn and detect and prevent stalls and finally the hardest part, landing but under supervision and with assistance at the moment. There are other skills I have learned such as ground handling.

I really enjoy the freedom of flying and if I have planned to go to the airfield and a Client suddenly books my services for that day, I must admit to being a little disappointed. But hey, work pays for all of it so I shouldn't complain.

The reason I mention all these things is that gliding is a transfer of knowledge from the Instructors to me and allowing me to make mistakes without criticism; offering help in correcting my errors. This is exactly the same method we employ in the transfer of knowledge about ISO9001 or 14001 to our Clients. It wasn't until a week ago that I realised just how similar these tasks were.

Naturally gliding has the potential to be far more dangerous, if things go really awry, but if our Management Systems knowledge transfer goes really wrong it could damage the Client's business.

In these tough financial times our Clients' need that competitive edge provided by Management Standards and the extra efficiency that can be realised. Once this recession is over these Clients will reap the benefits and I hope by then that I will be allowed to go Solo in a Glider.