One of Atticus’ family law attorneys once mentioned that he did not fully appreciate the benefits of checklists and systems until he decided to pursue his pilot’s license. Then the value of systemizing became abundantly clear.

When writing our book on Time Management we interviewed a professional pilot to learn the aviator’s approach to systeming. We spoke to G. Patrick Owen, who, at the time of the interview was a co-pilot on a DC 10 with Northwest Airlines. He had also worked as an instructor at Northwest and in the Navy as a carrier pilot and instructor.

I decided to take another look at this interview in light of the fact that there have been two recent and well-publicized incidents involving the failure of commercial aircraft: the first incident, in which the pilot chose to set his aircraft down on the Hudson River showed immense skill, judgement and an ability to follow systems, thus saving hundreds of lives. The second involved the crash of a small commercial carrier whose pilots were seemingly untrained and appeared to be in gross violation of their standard systems.

There is a lot to be learned from the world of aviation when it comes to systemizing. People’s lives depend on how good an airline’s systems are and how well they are followed. As a standard rule, the more dangerous the occupation, the more systemized it will be. While in your law practice you don’t have to worry that your actions will harm anyone physically, a mistake on the part of yourself or your team can do substantial legal damage. Read More….