Pilots and Product Managers

In, “Poor Charlie’s Almanac,” the less renowned half of the Berkshire Hathaway investing duo, Charles Munger, posits that the best training for business is actually provided to pilots. How can that be? Very good question! Had I not been a flight instructor who eventually entered business as a product manager, my answer may not have been given with a straight face.

Pilots must know a diversity of information. They are expected to understand and apply it in real time. They need do so in an integrated manner to ensure success. Success, by the way, is not crashing the plane!

A pilot must grasp weather, aerodynamics, and aircraft systems, for instance. All are seemingly unrelated topics. If one were to be an expert in meteorology only, flying success would be fleeting. The same is true for individuals who are “only” aerodynamicists or mechanics. Solid, crash-free pilots they would not be.

Weather conditions like density altitude, or air density related to temperature, pressure, and humidity, affect the flying characteristics of airplanes. The higher the density altitude, the greater the air velocity across the wing needed to generate lift i.e., you need more speed and require a longer runway to get there. Likewise, the higher the density altitude, the less fuel is required within a carbureted engine to obtain maximum power. Operating the engine with a fuel / air mixture that is too rich for the density altitude will also adversely affect takeoff performance.

Without interactional understanding of such disciplines, a pilot attempting to take off from a field that is too short for the conditions may fail with terrible consequences. In other words, he runs out of runway before gaining enough airspeed for takeoff. This is a wonderful method for making the evening news but for all the wrong reasons.

Like pilots, product managers must have command of many disciplines. Furthermore, we must understand how these specializations relate if we are to succeed in our craft. Being financially astute yet ignorant of customer needs because our research was poor may yield cost constrained, feature deficient products the market does not want. Not understanding trade-offs between engineering development schedules and time to market consequences can result in market demand going unmet when products are delivered late or with significant defects.

Pilots must synthesize weather, human physiology, aerodynamics, aircraft systems, performance, navigation, communication, and decision-making within real time environments on each flight. Likewise, product managers must integrate research, development, finance, manufacturing, sales, marketing, legal, and service disciplines every day. Failure to grasp the interrelatedness in either the cockpit or conference room may have profoundly unfortunate consequences for the principal.

Charles Munger, one of the foremost investors of our time, believes the best education for the boardroom (and the PM) is the interdisciplinary training pilots receive. Having set foot in both worlds, I think Charlie’s on to something!