Cleared for Takeoff

Address to Certificate Recipients

by Francis J. Aguilar
Professor of Business Administration,
Emeritus, Harvard Business School

Francis J. Aguilar

We are shaped by our experiences. One such experience for me was to be a naval aviator during the waning years of the Korean War. And while my combat exposure was limited to chasing a Russian submarine out of Puget Sound in Washington State, the challenges and responsibilities of piloting a large patrol plane with ten crew members made a deep impression on me.

In many ways, flying can serve as a metaphor for living. In youth, we take off. Then we climb and cruise through life. And our journey ends with a final landing.

All of you graduates will have great opportunities to fly high. Indeed, we are here now to mark an important milestone in your lives. But whether you are still rolling down the runway or already airborne, this is a good time to re-examine where you are going and how you are going to get there.

Let's Start with Takeoff

Every trip begins with a flight plan. Where do I want to go? How do I get there? What happens en route? Some of you have fairly good answers to these questions concerning your lives. Many do not. That's okay. But you do need to think about how you will get those answers if you are ever to take charge of your own life's flight. Otherwise, you can spend your life going in circles, or, in pilot talk, drilling holes in the clouds.

A flight plan depends on three factors:

1. flight conditions: that is weather, air traffic, night versus day, and so on;
2. aircraft capabilities; and
3. the pilot's preferences.

Let's look at each in turn. Just as flight conditions help shape a flight plan, emerging economic, technological, political, and social forces need to be taken into account in planning your life. How will globalization affect your life? What about improved telecommunications, where everyone is in instant contact with each other? And now, 9/11 and growing terrorism? Each of us needs to look ahead and around and figure out how to deal with these developments. You don't want to fly against a strong headwind or in a storm if you don't have to.

Aircraft capabilities. Every flight also begins with a preflight check. What is the condition of the wings and tail? The fuselage? How much fuel do you need? Do the controls function? The radios? And so on. The plane has to be configured in accordance with the flight plan.

Similarly, in setting our life plan, each of us needs to know our strengths and weaknesses. Of what am I capable? Of what am I not? Where is my comparative advantage? Is it speaking up in a group? Is it quantitative analysis? You should discover where you can profit from your strengths and mitigate your weaknesses.

Equally important is to consider what really turns you on--the pilot's preference. Leading firms have come to realize that their people have different motivations: some people are interested in making the most money; some in gaining power or prestige; some in enhancing the quality of their family life. These firms adapt their rewards to key people accordingly. You need to do the same, that is, to know and act on your own values in making life choices. Try not to be seduced by what others define as success.

Now, an airplane has to have air pass over its wings at a certain speed to lift off the ground. To reduce minimum ground speed, it takes off into the wind. The stronger the wind, the less effort needed to take off. And so it is with you.

Each of you has your own personal relative wind advantage. Your family might be wealthy and have important connections or it might be poor and isolated. Your family might or might not have instilled in you a love of music, literature, or science, or with good work habits or social graces. These advantages can make your take-off easier--like the wind. But you should know that planes can take off without any wind. It just requires more effort.

My father came from Zacatecas, Mexico. He was a waiter in New York City. My mother came from Nürnberg, Germany. My first language was broken English. And while, except for my faith, my parents could not point out goals and directions, they were great cheerleaders. The principal limitation that I faced was myself. And so it might be for you, for most of us hold our destiny in our own hands.

Climbing and Cruising

Each of you has completed your take-off--hopefully with a good flight plan and a thorough pre-flight check--and is now climbing and perhaps cruising. You are experiencing, or have experienced, important accomplishments--new jobs, a new (or perhaps growing) family, and now, a certificate from Harvard. You feel good about yourself. And so you should.

During flight training, I can remember how proud I was on the successful completion of my first solo flight. I felt like the king of the mountain. I was a flyer. Two months later, locked in close flying formation just ten feet from the other planes while carving S turns at 200 mph, I was even more exuberant. And two months later still, my first carrier landing blew my mind. I was now really a hot-shot flyer, or so I thought. Later experiences in naval operations, such as patrolling the explosion of the first hydrogen bomb at Bikini or losing our engine and landing a crippled aircraft at Guam, gave me ever greater feelings of accomplishment. And yet, on my retirement from active duty, I had to acknowledge that I still had a lot to learn about flying.

One of life's biggest mistakes is to think you have arrived. Each destination marks a leg of a larger journey.

One other thing with cruising and flying around is the importance of remaining alert to the world around you. Pilots are trained constantly to scan their instruments--air speed, altitude, oil pressure, fuel utilization. They also have to watch the horizon for weather, for places to land in case of engine failure, and for other flying aircraft.

Too many people who reach a comfortable station in life go on autopilot. They forget to watch their personal instruments, letting their health or their morality deteriorate to dangerous levels until it is too late to recover. Or they forget to watch for outside troubles, ignoring growing tensions in their marriage or at work until conflict and collision occur. Something I shall never forget in flight training was the poster that showed two planes flying toward each other and simply said, "Avoid a mid-air collision. It can ruin your whole day." Well, to avoid mid-air collisions, pilots need to be alert at all times; they can not afford to become complacent or smug in handling the controls, and the same applies to us.

In keeping track of our flight's progress, we need also to take into account our expectations. If we encounter strong headwinds or a storm front, we might need to shorten the distance of the flight or deviate in direction. If we are favored with helping tailwinds and open skies, we might decide to fly further or to spend more time enjoying a scenic area, like flying over Niagara Falls or the Grand Canyon.

Similarly, we should always keep our life's goals in mind and be prepared to change them as we encounter new opportunities and challenges. Few, if any, of you will end up where you now expect. Some will fall short, but most of you will be able to exceed your expectations. But you must be ready to alter your plans en route. (As an aside, let me just point out that I am talking about altering your goals, not your basic ethical and moral values.)

And speaking of moral values, a pilot will often be responsible for the safety and survival of other people. I remember my anxiety in trying to land a plane at night during a tropical storm with a crew of 10 on board. I also remember my great relief when we finally broke out of the clouds to see the runway dead ahead. While you might never experience such dramatic circumstances, you surely will impact many lives for better or for worse--your family, friends, your colleagues and subordinates at work. As Le Petit Prince learned, we are each responsible for those who depend on us and for those who trust us.

Landing

There is an old tongue-in-cheek saying among aviators that any landing you can walk away from is a good landing. Good aviators hold a much higher standard: Did the plane make a good approach? Did it touch down gently? Indeed, on landing, one normally reflects on the whole flight. Was it smooth? Was it safe? Was it fun? What did I learn? What did I accomplish?

In your later years in life, you will have an opportunity to ask the same kinds of questions about your passage. Did I make the most of my God-given talents? Did I reach for the sky? Am I proud of how I flew?

Most of us will have many pleasant memories and many accomplishments to look back on our life's flight. And all caring and thoughtful persons also will have regrets, no matter how successful they have been. In this connection, I would like to read some excerpts from a poem by Jorge Luis Borges titled "If I Live Again."

If I could live again my life, in the next one I would attempt to make more mistakes . . . I would go to more places where I have never been, eat more ice cream and less prunes, I would have more real problems and less imaginary ones.

I was one of those persons who lived each minute of their life logically and reasonably; of course I had moments of happiness. But if I could go back I would try to only have good moments. Because if you do not know, that is what life is made of, only of moments, do not miss one now.

I was one of those who would never go anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, an umbrella, and a parachute . . . I would travel lighter . . . if I would once again have my life in front of me. But you see, I am 85 years old.

This post-flight report by one of this century's great writers should cause each of us to re-examine our own life's flight plan. Here is a man who was a world-class success in what he loved and did, and yet regretted that he had not reached higher.

And that brings me to my parting message to you. Don't be satisfied with prunes when you can have ice cream. Remember, you are at the controls of your life flight. Do all that you can to make your life's flight reach far and high. Look ahead, stay alert, be bold, be smart, and above all, be true to yourself and a credit to your loved ones.

Members of the graduating class of 2002, you are cleared for takeoff! May you all enjoy a thumbs-up flight in the years ahead.

Dr. Francis J. Aguilar is professor of business administration, emeritus, at the Harvard Business School.

After receiving his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Rensselear Polytechnic Institute in 1954, Professor Aguilar headed for Harvard Business School, where he received the MBA in 1959 and the DBA in 1965. He has been on the Harvard Business School faculty ever since.

Professor Aguilar has maintained an active involvement in both education and business. As an educator he has authored or co-authored numerous books and articles, including European Problems in General Management (1963), General Managers in Action (second edition, 1992), and Managing Corporate Ethics (1994).

In addition to his teaching in Harvard's MBA and Executive Education Programs here and abroad, he has held a number of administrative positions at Harvard Business School, including deputy director of the Central and Eastern European Teachers Program, faculty chair of the Harvard International Senior Managers Program, and chair of the International Teachers Program.

He has also consulted on strategic planning and business ethics for various companies and has been a member of numerous boards of directors and boards of trustees.

Professor Aguilar joined the Extension School faculty in 2001 and teaches CSS E-101 General Managers in Action in the Certificate of Special Studies in Administration and Management Program.