The Attitude Indicator
“God help us, we’re in the hands of engineers!” This exclamation from character, Dr. Ian Malcolm, sums up in one sentence the entire premise of Michael Crichton’s bestselling book and blockbuster movie, Jurassic Park. It is also something that crosses my mind every time I buckle into my Cessna 182. Crichton wrote the book as an extreme repudiation of an erroneous attitude within the science and business communities that extols the power of engineering to control the natural world and demonstrates what he referred to as an unhealthy “lack of humility before nature.”
Pilots understand this premise. Even in its most basic form, flying is simply one way we apply engineering discipline to collaborate with, and even control, nature. Our instrument panels are packed with dials, gauges, and readouts that offer us instant feedback on how that collaboration is going at any given moment. In direct contradiction to approved Jedi training techniques, pilots are taught to trust our instruments – not our feelings. We are also taught, the most important instrument to routinely check is our attitude indicator. On the panel, this is the instrument that tells us in real-time our relationship to the horizon in three dimensions. You may have heard it referred to as the “artificial horizon.” With one glance at this instrument we can instantly know if we are straight and level, climbing, descending, or banking in either direction. Armed with this information, we can make whatever attitude adjustments are needed to maintain control. It is a very important instrument, but if we could ask Crichton, I suspect he would suggest to us that our most important attitude indicator is the one that monitors what is going on in that space between our headsets.
Aviators are taught to consider five hazardous mental attitudes that can influence our judgement and decision making. I think you’ll agree, they have a much broader application outside of aviation.
The first is an anti-authority attitude. With this attitude, we might tend to believe rules, regulations, and safety procedures don’t apply to us. It might cause a pilot to ignore his checklists or disobey air traffic controllers. For the rest of us, it might mean not taking meds as prescribed, violating company policy, or even breaking the law.
Next is the impulsivity attitude, which prevents us from taking a moment to think through a situation before we act. With this attitude, we will be more likely to do the first thing that comes to mind. Reacting too quickly to circumstances can lead to irrational decisions, such as rushing to fly home despite inclement weather, responding harshly to an email or text that offends us, or chewing out that poor pharmacy technician at Publix who is just trying to do her job.
Third is the invulnerability attitude – the one that says “it won’t happen to me.” Many of us act as if we believe accidents or illness only happen to other people. The attitude is dangerous because it causes us to ignore risks to our safety and wellness. With this attitude, pilots might try to fly beyond their abilities or someone we love might keep pushing off that overdue colonoscopy.
Fourth is an attitude commonly referred to as macho. This attitude will cause us to take unnecessary and unmitigated risks to prove ourselves and impress others. No, it’s not just a guy thing, either. We are all susceptible to it when we might be overconfident in our abilities or perhaps in those circumstances when our inhibitions have been chemically diminished.
Finally, there is the resignation attitude. If we allow this attitude to develop we may lack the confidence and conviction we need to believe we can make a difference in what happens to us. This attitude is manifested in a tendency to give up easily when challenged by difficult circumstances. It is an especially dangerous attitude for those of us who are ill, desperate, or otherwise threatened because it may lead us to believe we are helpless and cause us to resign to our fate instead of taking action.
Experience and age are great teachers. Whether we fly or not, if we live long enough in this world we will learn attitude is everything. Some people will learn it the hard way during a spontaneous adventure that begins with the statement, “Hold my beer!” Others by realizing they have allowed their own frustrations and emotions to hurt someone else unnecessarily. However we get there, one of the best gifts Christians can offer the world is the steadiness and confidence that comes from learning how to monitor and manage our attitudes. It is what the world sees as wisdom, and if we are going to offer this gift to others, we must daily avail ourselves of its power in our own lives.
In his book, Maintaining Your Grip, Charles Swindoll says, “The single most significant decision I can make on a day-to-day basis is my choice of attitude. It is more important than my past, my education, my bankroll, my successes or failures, fame or pain, what other people think of me or say about me, my circumstances, or my position. Attitude is the ‘single string’ that keeps us going or cripples our progress. It alone fuels our fire or assaults our hope. When our attitudes are right, there are no barriers too high, no valleys too deep, no dreams too extreme, and no challenge too great for us.”
How do we know when our attitudes are right? Writing to the church at Philipi from a prison cell in Rome, the apostle Paul offers each of us our own little personal attitude indicator. “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.” (Philippians 1:27). Pretty simple. Our conduct reflects our attitude. If my conduct is not worthy of the gospel of Christ, I need to make some attitude adjustments – preferably while that conduct is still just a thought and not an action that cannot be undone.
One sure sign of Christian maturity is the realization that God’s ultimate goal for us is not pleasure or comfort, but an attitude of godliness in all circumstances. Paul tells us, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2).
God has engineered and given each of us the tools we need to recognize and manage our attitudes, but it requires a continuous process of transformation to develop and upgrade the mental gauges that tell us what adjustments are needed to maintain control. If we will make that effort, He will keep us on course. So, take it from an old dinosaur, learn to trust those instruments - especially that attitude indicator.
Cal Vandivier is the head of our finance committee, a lay delegate to our Annual Conference, and a licensed pilot.