The Corporate Pilot.  Despite a romantic aura surrounding the persona of airplane pilots, they are exceptionally disciplined professionals. Pilots take their responsibility, in the air and on the ground, very seriously. Their training is intense, requiring the mastery of many complex skills both intellectual and physical. Many hours of hard work and training are required for even the most limited of licenses.

If the most important word in real estate is “location,” for pilots it is “experience.” From single engine Piper Cubs to the largest commercial airliners, pilots must prove themselves over and over again before they are entrusted with the enormous responsibility of other peoples’ lives.

This is why the paradox surrounding a pilot’s training is so perplexing. The longer a pilot flies, the more technologically driven is his training. The more training a pilot receives, the more likely he is to depend on the readings from his instruments and less on his own senses. It’s not that his senses are undependable, it is that they could be in conflict with the plane’s true position presented through its instruments.

New pilots flying into a bank of clouds will check their gauges continuously. Not satisfied with the data, the pilots will want to make adjustments even though these changes are not indicated by their instruments.

With no visibility, they’ll stare at the plane’s artificial horizon gauge. It’ll show the plane level, but they won’t trust it. So, they’ll make an adjustment and then another and another. Aviation organizations don’t want to admit the number of new pilots who fly out of clouds completely upside-down.

The pilots will then adjust his flaps, right the plane and go on.

When well-established organizations feel a need to change how they “look” it is usually more about a need to exert control rather than reflecting new conditions. And, while there may be legitimate and appropriate business reasons for an induced metamorphosis, a complete visual transformation may be counterproductive.

Change for the sake of change is almost never warranted. Only when an organization’s internal circumstances change should they attempt to translate that new structure into an identity that acknowledges those changes. Even then, too drastic a change can create a disconnect from customers and employees, leaving them unsure of the future and detached from the past.

Instinct is an integral part of successful enterprises. However, without an unencumbered evaluation of current conditions, the implementation of such change can be devastating to an established brand. Listen to your instincts but read the gauges. Trust your gut but hear from those outside of your organization who don’t have vested interests.

It is much easier to right an errant plane than an organization.

Bird's Eye View:  Essex Two was asked to design and build a birdhouse to be sold at auction benefiting Chicago House.

Chicago House provides housing programs and support services to individuals and families living with HIV and AIDS. Fundraising events such as the Birdhouse Art Auction account for over one third of the Chicago House operating budget.

Our birdhouse, called Graham and Reed’s McDonald House, is more of a three-flat with separate entrances. The exterior as well as three perches are covered with small toys, primarily from McDonald’s Happy Meals™ collected over the last three years.

Worth your time:  Six Great Ideas, by Mortimer J. Adler. It’s impossible to do justice to this book or Adler’s observations in just a few sentences. Time Magazine called him “America’s foremost philosopher.” His ideas are profound and elegant in their simplicity. His talent is the ability to help us find the needle in the haystack through his magnetic gift for teaching.

Essex Two: Visit our website for examples of how we have created communication devices that address the practical in conceptual ways.