It was chilling, the moment I found out in post-mission debrief, that my crew and I were only 30 seconds away from flying into the side of a mountain.

The 3 step aviation paradigm that had been drilled into us from the beginning of our flying training, not only saved our lives that day, but has served to save my business 10 years later.

I had been an aviator in the Australian military for over 10 years. During a maritime surveillance training mission in 2002, my captain, crew and I lost awareness of where we were during a low level flight in cloud.

After 30 seconds of radio silence between the confused crew, the captain instinctively reacted by pushing the throttles to full, rapidly pulling us up to a safe altitude (aviate). He then identified our present position and turned to a known, safe direction (navigate). Finally, he briefed Air Traffic Control and the crew of the incident (communicate).

Had he not, from instinctive obedience, followed that immediate action drill of aviation protocol, we would all have become a puff of smoke in the side of a mountain. That flight in 2002 almost cost me my life. But what saved us that day, I have repeatedly implemented in my businesses as good practice.

For professional and avid aviators the concept of ‘Aviate, Navigate, Communicate’ is a well known cornerstone on which all aviation safety is based.

1. Aviate - During any emergency, do not lose sight of what is important, which is to keep the aircraft flying. If there are major issues to contend with in the cockpit, above all, prioritise the flying of the aircraft first. Similar to triage, deal with the most life threatening issue first.

2. Navigate - After the aircraft has been made safe, the next priority is to identify where the aircraft is, and then navigate the aircraft away from the immediate danger.

3. Communicate - When safe, and moving away from danger, only then communicate your intentions to air traffic control and/or other agencies. Further, ensure that the issue is clearly communicated and de-briefed with the crew post-flight.

To code this aviation concept into civilian work place speak:

1. Do It - Every process in your business should have a pre-planned and well communicated immediate action drill to respond to problems. Similar to pulling the aircraft up to a safe altitude, you need an immediate action that will rescue any deviation from the standard for your business or staff. For example, a client complains. Your ‘immediate action’ or ‘do it’ could be to have an appropriate response (use a template if necessary) communicated via phone or email to the client within a specified time frame.

2. Move It - When the ‘do it’ step is complete, i.e. you have put out the initial flames of danger (restored the clients satisfaction with you), you can then enact the ‘navigate’ or ‘move it’ step, which is to turn your business away from this kind of trouble. Examples of this could be, review the reason for the complaint, alter a scope of works, look at employee attitude or fix a faulty product.

3. Say It - The final step is to communicate the issue, action taken, result and conclusions drawn for formalising future behaviours. Have a well-oiled process in place for reporting such issues and process reform internally as well as externally. Key is ensuring the entire organisation has the opportunity to learn from the issues.

I would encourage you to construct the same protocol in your business when you are setting up processes or risk management plans.

This basic protocol is not complicated. It has been taught to all aviators young and old for many years because it works, and as they say, simple is often the best. Your company may be undertaking this concept in a similar way, but presented this way, the 3 steps can be visualised, easily recalled and can be clearly communicated to your team.

Building a ‘DO IT, MOVE IT, SAY IT’ paradigm as an automated response to issues in your organisation, will not only create a safer and more productive workplace, but will reduce the risk of loss of profit or worse, becoming irrelevant or extinct.

Flying aircraft as a part of a crew taught me skills and ‘modus operandi’ that I have utilised in business, entrepreneurship and consulting.

Now, through my consulting practice I aim to pass this knowledge on to leaders and organisations to stop companies and management teams flying into their ‘mountain’ (crises’ arising from problematic processes and procedures, PR, board integration, cashflow) and be prepared to save their business also.

Daniel Cooney is the Amazon best selling author of ‘Decision Making - Military Tactics To Master Situational Awareness & Leadership’. He teaches Leadership and Management principles garnered from his military aviation and corporate careers, to leaders, businesses and corporates.

Visit www.danielcooney.co.uk for more.