After 10 years as a Navy combat pilot flying over 500 combat missions, I learned that systems don't fail because of complexity—they fail because of unclear processes, missing redundancy, and poor communication. When I transitioned to business, I was shocked to see companies repeating the same mistakes that would ground an aircraft.
Precision Over Perfection
In combat aviation, we don't aim for perfect. We aim for precise. Perfect is the enemy of execution. Precise means you know exactly what needs to happen, when it needs to happen, and what the acceptable margin is.
Most businesses chase perfection in their automation. They want the AI to be 100% accurate. They want zero errors. They want complete transformation on day one.
That's not how systems work. You build for precision—clearly defined outcomes with measurable tolerances.
The framework:
- Define exact success criteria before building
- Establish acceptable error rates (yes, errors are acceptable)
- Build feedback loops to improve over time
- Deploy incrementally, not all at once
Redundancy Is Not Waste
Every critical system in an aircraft has backup. And a backup for the backup. Because when you're 30,000 feet in the air, "sorry, the system crashed" isn't an option.
Business automation needs the same thinking. Your CRM goes down? What's your backup? Your AI workflow fails? What's your fallback? Your integration breaks? What's your safety net?
Most companies build single points of failure and call it "lean." That's not lean—it's fragile.
Standard Operating Procedures
In the military, we live by SOPs—Standard Operating Procedures. Every action has a documented process. Every emergency has a checklist. Every decision has a framework.
Why? Because when things go wrong (and they will), you don't want people improvising. You want them executing a proven process.
Your business automation needs SOPs too:
- Document every automated workflow end-to-end
- Create runbooks for when automations fail
- Train teams on standard responses to common issues
- Review and update procedures quarterly
Communication Protocols
In aviation, communication is structured, clear, and verified. "Roger" means I heard you. "Wilco" means I will comply. There's no room for interpretation.
Business automation fails most often at the communication layer. Sales doesn't know what marketing automated. IT doesn't know what operations deployed. Everyone's building in silos.
Implement military-grade communication protocols for your automation stack.
The Bottom Line
The same principles that keep pilots alive at 30,000 feet keep businesses operational at scale: precision over perfection, redundancy over efficiency, documented processes over tribal knowledge, and clear communication over assumptions. Apply military systems thinking to your automation, and you'll build infrastructure that doesn't just work—it works under pressure.