AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2012 - 34

LICENSETOLEARN

BY ROD MACHADO

Decide to decide again

everal years ago, while on a long, single-day trip to Grand Forks, North Dakota, I landed in Lincoln, Nebraska, late in the afternoon to refuel.

ignoring its advice. With a little luck, our very naughty iceman cometh down safely, hopefully to contemplate his tachycardia and the error of disregarding his intuitive voice. While I’d love nothing more than attempting an explanation on how the intuitive mind works, I would need to channel one or more long-deceased French philosophers to do so. This would cause many of you to wish that I were long deceased, too. So we’ll skip that part. It’s not, however, psyTanks topped and sandwich in hand, I decided chobabble to suggest that our second mind often speaks in the language of feeling and emotion. that the remaining portion of my trip was doable Aviation writer and flight instructor based on the current weather reports. I taxied Here’s an experiment you can do to experience Rod Machado has my P210 to the run-up area and did something the visceral language of your second mind. The been an aviation that has always served me well in the cockpit. I next time you have to make a noncritical decispeaker since decided to decide again. sion about which you are conflicted (perhaps a 1976. After thinking my trip through one more time, I decision on which movie to see or restaurant to knew that electing to depart didn’t feel right. It was visit), do the following. Pull out a coin and before as if I were of two minds regarding the decision. The rational you flip it, let heads be one choice and tails the other. Then, side of me—my first mind—said that the decision was OK. flip the coin. As you lift your hand and the choice is made for My intuition—my second mind—thought otherwise, but I you, note your immediate visceral response. Did you feel a couldn’t put my finger on the reason why. Only later did I dis- rush of pleasure or a pang of disappointment at the result? cover that I was a lot more fatigued from a full day of flying This is one way to sense what your gut—your second mind— than I had suspected. prefers that you do. Of course, what your head—your first Most of the time my intuition supports my departure deci- mind—wants you to do might be an entirely different matter. sions. But when it doesn’t, I’ve learned to listen. Inconvenient Nevertheless, you now have the benefit of listening to two as it was, I packed it in for the evening. Unfortunately, there voices instead of one. was a convention in town. Without a reservation, I ended up Let me be clear here that I’m not advocating flipping a coin bunking at an advertised five-star hotel (the stars being the as a means of deciding how to fly your airplane. This is simply number of celestial objects you could see through the rafters a nonaviation experiment demonstrating how intuition can at night and the advertising being false). The next morning, make a meaningful contribution to your overall decision-makafter learning several new constellations, I easily made my ing strategy. Besides, flipping a coin to make aviation decisions way to Grand Forks. only works when you fly solo—otherwise, no one will ever get Nearly all of our important cockpit decisions are made on in an airplane with you again. a logical level. We consult our decision schematic, plug in Deciding to decide again is a valuable safety tool on several the variables of information, analyze, and act—rationally, we levels. You might, for instance, discover that your logical mind hope. That’s because we’re trained to listen to our first mind, found a wrong branch on the decision tree, leaving you out on and we are half right for doing so. Our second mind has a a limb. Or perhaps you failed to consider some key piece of voice, too, but it tends to whisper rather than shout. It’s only information, or didn’t include data that was available (through when we create the opportunity to listen to it that we find it oversight or wishful thinking). Ultimately, it’s the chance to often has something valuable to say. hear your intuitive mind speak that makes deciding again a Deciding to decide again is one way we can pay more atten- particularly useful strategy. tion to our intuition, our gut. Once our rational mind makes Give your second mind a chance to air its voice, but prefa decision, the heavy lifting of evaluation and contemplation erably not in the air. Do this on the ground before departure, is done. The rational side of our mind becomes a bit quieter, where you have the time to listen carefully. Decide, then making room for the voice of the less dominant—but no less decide again. Most of the time, both voices will agree. When valuable—second mind to emerge. they don’t, bring out your favorite decision-tree schematic and Take, for example, the pilot who departs IFR into known run through it one more time. If your choice seems sound but icing conditions, converts his Cessna into a Frigidaire, and your intuition suggests otherwise, it’s a good bet that you’re then says to himself, “I knew this was the wrong thing to do.” missing or ignoring something important. Without even an introductory waterboarding session, he has willingly confessed to hearing his second mind speak and Visit the author’s blog (www.rodmachado.com). 34 • MARCH 2012

AOPA PILOT •

http://www.rodmachado.com

AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2012

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