Off on a tangent....

On the subject of going against conventional wisdom, here's a short piece I read sometime ago about Christopher Columbus' leadership skills and how they are applicable when trying things that conventional wisdom say won't work (like developing a SEJ). No different from young entrepreneurs doing the rounds with VC firms trying to sell the next big idea:

5 Leadership Lessons from Christopher Columbus

• Luck favors the prepared
  
• Be Bold. Be Different
• Ignore Nay Sayers
• Find people who believe in you
• Let go of the familiar and safe

Luck Favors the Prepared

Was Columbus just lucky? One of the first criticisms of successful leaders and visionaries they were just lucky to be at the right place at the right time. Anyone could have done the same thing. It’s just lucky this person did it and someone else didn't. Columbus was trying to sail to India and was just lucky he found something else instead.

What appears to be a lucky happenstance is the result of years of work and preparation. Leaders make luck happen through preparation. Columbus spent years developing his idea and going around Europe looking for financial backing. He had to believe and convince others that the world might be round. Like any great leader, Columbus spent a lot of time getting prepared for his opportunity. When an opportunity appears you need to be ready to both recognize it and to be able to take advantage of it.

Be Bold. Be Different.

Columbus had a bold idea. An idea that was different from everyone else around him and certainly different from his seafaring peers. In his day ship captains kept in sight of the shore, ensuring they would not fall of the edge of the Earth or be consumed by sea monsters. Columbus understood that if he continued to do the same thing everyone else was doing, he would at best continue to get the same results as everyone else. If you want to achieve something great it is going to have to be by doing something different than what everyone else is doing.

Ignore the Naysayers

Everywhere Christopher Columbus went people laughed at him for his idea that the Earth was round as he traveled Europe looking for support. He was sent away time after time. His peers and colleagues in the sail industry thought him to be a mad man for making such suggestions. Everywhere he went sharing his idea he was dismissed, ridiculed and marginalized. It is very easy to stat to listen to the voices of the naysayers. They will always be around. Leaders who believe in their mission will ignore the naysayers and continue moving forward.

Find People Who Believe In You

Leaders know they cannot be successful alone. They need the support of people who believe in them. Even if those people are uncertain themselves they believe enough to put themselves on the line and be part of your team. Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain were the first. And then there were the people on his crew. Each of his supporters may have had different goals and objectives than Columbus, but they were all aligned in support him in his efforts. Undoubted some were less supportive than others. It doesn't matter. Great leaders use this support, whatever the level, to charge forward.

Let Go Of The Familiar And Safe

Perhaps the greatest lesson from Columbus’s leadership is to let go of what is familiar and safe and have the faith that you and your supporters will have what it takes to face the unknown, adapt and move forward. Columbus literally did this in that we simply cannot replicate in today’s business world. However we do know what it means feel secure and not want to take chances with our careers and finances and avoid taking risks. Those who let go and take a chance may fail at first. Getting up and moving forward, past your comfort zone, is where success lies. Leaders face their fears and move forward.

The dream costs you a deposit. Cheap.

The plane costs you the balance. Expensive.

The cost/benefit is much different when it comes time to write the big check.

I think many of the SF50 buyers have bought the idea of owning a jet, but not the reality.

Mike C.

The world was known to be round well before Columbus.

http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php ... -was-flat/

The "Columbus discovered the world was round" is a myth created around his travels.

Mike C.

Understanding the engineering and regulatory issues of single versus twin jets is being prepared.


The Moller SkyCar qualifies on all counts. It is bold, has nay sayers, had investors, and wasn't familiar or safe.

So it should have been a roaring success according to this criteria, no?

True leadership is knowing what is within reach and what isn't.


Totally bogus.


The Vikings came to North America well before Columbus. Columbus was not first. In the end, Columbus's goal was not achieved.

What Columbus did was establish a practical way to sail to the new world, through the use of trade winds, and ushered in an age of exploration and European western expansion. Columbus did not prove the world was round, nor did he discover America, nor did he find a trade route to India.

Mike C.

Conclusion - you're certainly a Nay Sayer.

Bookmarked for future reference. Obviously not all ideas that go against conventional wisdom succeed - in fact the majority fail.

You also nitpick details and fail to grasp the message. You live in a box drawn by your own biases.

Also known as a realist.

Dreamers call other people "nay sayers" as a mental defense to keep the dream alive. It allows them to dismiss any sound reasoning or argument they have and treat it like some sort of evil intention.

If Cirrus had built a TF-60, same thing with two PW610 engines, I would be all over it. It would go higher, faster, safer, burn less fuel, and be easier to certify. It really bothers me when companies make such big strategic mistakes.

Mike C.

Everyone at Cirrus, as well as the several hundred SF50 deposit holders, are all gullible and stupid..

Sheeeesh

I don't have a dog in this fight, but that is entirely possible. It is also possible it will be a roaring success because enough people buy into it, regardless of whether or not it is a good idea.

History is littered with flops and flubs from great companies. Time will tell.

I suspect that the agendas of those stake-holders is very diverse and the fact that the SF50 is basically a dog, "the lowest, slowest & cheapest jet" to use Cirrus's Marketing blurb, is of little concern to those that will be cashing in on the gullible .

I really hate it when rich people are gullible and not smart enough to know they're being taken advantage of. I scream at them to let them know what's going on, but the large stacks of cash keep blocking my voice.

SF50 depositors are not truly rich.

If they were, they would be flying in a real jet already.

Mike C.

SF50 depositors are not truly rich.

If they were, they would be flying in a real jet already.

Mike C.

The VAST majority of folks here on BT contribute in a very positive manner on this forum with an overall goal of being a positive influence to the very small segment of the world's population called aviators. To those folks here on BT, I am forever grateful to your positive contributions and I salute you.

There also exists a small minority here who seem highly motivated to prove to the world how 'right' they are at the expense of degradation, insults and slander. To that group, I wish you the best but also hope that you would consider using your energy and time to make a more positive contribution here.

Cirrus has a way of making thier aircraft fit an "iPlane" image.

SF50 depositors are not truly rich.

If they were, they would be flying in a real jet already.

Mike C.