Think Strategically While in Flight
Subscribe to Jamie’s Newsletter Here
Think Strategically While in Flight
In my newsletter earlier this year, I suggested that 2026 would be messy and uncertain, and that we would still need to find a way to move forward through that uncertainty. The theme was: the best fishing is in muddy waters. We can certainly agree that 2026 has so far brought many new challenges and even more uncertainties.
That means we need the ability to think strategically while in flight. With a nod to the incredible achievement of Artemis II, I will go back to the turbulent trip of Apollo 13, with some apologies for referencing the movie versus the actual transcripts. There are three moments of strategic problem-solving while in flight that I’d like to highlight.
The first begins with “Houston, we have a problem.” This isn’t actually the key moment, because we all face problems, and we bat them down with the speed of a great whack-a-mole participant, and the strategy stays intact. The highlight is when Jim Lovell says, “we just lost the moon.” This is the recognition that the problem at hand requires a change in strategy. That’s the hard part. There are a hundred problems that could affect your strategy, but which ones require, or offer, a change to your strategy?
Of course, this realization would very soon be clear to all, but the speed of recognizing the moment is essential. The sooner you recognize the moment, the more degrees of freedom remain for you to shape what happens next.
The next key moment is the defining of the strategy. Flight Director Gene Kranz clearly defines what success looks like, what current reality tells us, and what the relevant parameters are. He pulls the team together and outlines the options: about-face versus a free-return trajectory to slingshot around the moon. Throughout the entire process of working the problem and the change in strategy, he keeps people focused: “let’s work the problem, people. Let’s not make things worse by guessing.“
The third moment is perhaps more subtle. We may not always like the conditions that shape our strategy, but whatever attention sticks to victim mentality and the past detracts from our focus on the actions we need to take in front of us. With some bad tempers and tired minds, Jim Lovell asks his crewmates, “gentlemen, what are your intentions? I’d like to go home.”
The key element here is that the level of conviction we have in the new strategy is a critical element of success. Getting the strategy right is important, but without that conviction, we won’t likely pull off the hard tasks necessary to make the strategy a success. Viktor Frankl, who faced far more dire circumstances than we do in 2026, declared: “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms, to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” Conviction, in this sense, is a chosen stance toward the new strategy, not a feeling you wait to arrive.
In 2026 and beyond, in a world that moves fast, all leaders will need to be able to recognize the moments when the plan needs to change, clearly define the new scope and work the problem, and compel a commitment to new actions that increase the likelihood of success. Are you ready, captain?