October 2023

Our brains are getting smaller, despite the fact

that we live in a civilisation that is the most

advanced that has ever existed.

LEADERS

CEOS

REACHING

FOR THE SKY

CEO Mike Hartman's solo photo.

AOPA BRIEFING

Chris Martinus, President, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association – South Africa

October 2023

THIS ALARMING DISCOVERY was released

in a study last year by palaeontologists at

Dartmouth College in the USA. What was

most surprising is that this reduction in cranial

capacity has only occurred in the last 3000

years.

Some conclusions were that, since the brain

needs a considerable amount of nutrients and

energy to grow and maintain, if we don’t use it, it

tends to shrink in size over generations. This is

particularly true when we look at other creatures

in the animal kingdom. For example, most

parasites like lampreys live in a very comfortable

environment where all their needs are provided

for by their hosts. Lampreys don’t have to think

very much, so they accordingly have tiny little

brains.

Although the size of

the brain is not the sole

determinant of intelligence,

there are other indications

that the humans of more

than three millennia ago

were pretty smart guys.

Early humans had to have

intelligence and abilities we

just don’t need today. The

average early human had to be able to hunt,

find food, build a home, protect his dwelling and

family from predators, plan ahead for the winter

months when resources were scarce, make fire,

invent his own tools, tend to his own wounds,

settle disputes himself and deal with countless

other challenges that modern humans no longer

need to care about.

The fact is, in our modern “civilised” era we

have all become specialists. We focus on our

very narrow fields of endeavour and leave our

other needs to be dealt with by other specialists.

Instead of hunting and foraging for our next

meal, we visit the local supermarket, or even just

order our food online.

We rent or borrow to buy a home, which is built

by contractors and specialist sub-contractors.

If we are threatened by predators, we call the

police or the security company. If our house

burns down, that’s the insurance company’s

problem. If the car breaks down, we have no

clue how to fix it. Indeed, few people even own

a toolbox, let alone can fabricate the necessary

tools. We have maintenance plans and

extended warranties where other specialists will

deal with that.

If we need to remember things or do

calculations, computers do that for us. If we

want to chat with others, no need to trek for

days through the wilds to engage with our

friends and associates. We pull that smartphone

out of our pockets and see and speak to each

other within a couple of seconds. If we hurt

ourselves or get into a

dispute, there are doctors

and lawyers to sort those

problems out.

It’s little wonder we are

growing smaller brains.

Other than for the narrow

purposes of our specialised

careers, we don’t need most

of that lump of mush sitting

in its bony container above our shoulders.

Most of the world’s working population work

for others, for businesses and corporations.

Particularly in the cushy environment of larger

corporations where medical care, pension plans,

transport, a comfortable work environment,

paid leave and the golden handcuffs of assisted

loans provide for all imaginable human needs.

But what about the few who use their ingenuity

to struggle up the corporate ladder from cubicle

to boardroom?

The transition from the ordered corporate

environment to the real world of cut-and-thrust,

dog-eat-dog engagement within the wilderness

of our modern “civilization” is a daunting one for

the budding CEO. The need to swiftly assess

CEOs who

fly make

significantly

better CEOs.

October 2023

and manage risk, assess the environment

outside the office building - as well as having to

make rapid and accurate decisions regarding

potentially life-threatening scenarios, becomes

paramount.

Human babies are born with an excess of

neurons in their brains, about 100 billion of

them. As the baby grows, neural pathways

are formed by the process of learning, and the

unused remainder eventually fade away as we

age. This is why you can’t, “teach an old dog

new tricks”.

This transition for young executives is one that

has challenged corporations for a long time.

Further academic education, as well as projects

such as so-called wilderness leadership schools

and the like have proven to be of dubious value.

Walking a few trails, engaging with nature and

sitting around the campfire with colleagues while

drinking beer and singing Kumbaya may well

introduce some novelty and team-building, but

does little to galvanise those unused neurons

into useful function – before they eventually

atrophy and die.

It’s Time To Go Fly

It is not an entirely new concept, but there have

been numerous studies and analyses that,

statistically, CEOs who fly themselves make

significantly better, more effective and successful

CEOs. These studies point to historic business

greats like Howard Hughes and Oracle CEO

Larry Ellison as examples of highly successful

CEO pilots. Elon Musk bought himself an

L-39 jet and learned to fly it when he founded

SpaceX.

It comes as no surprise that, when casually

perusing a list of members of AOPA South

Africa, that the majority are captains of industry,

professionals and successful entrepreneurs.

So, why does learning to fly and obtaining a

pilot licence appear to make for such successful

business leaders? This aspect is something that

the copious research and literature does not

really address.

The answer is this: It introduces the business

leader to a very novel and broad range of

CEO - Andrew Borresen goes solo.

October 2023

disciplines, knowledge, skills and concepts

that fires up those hitherto unused neurons

into pathways that are of immense use to the

potential CEO who needs to face very novel and

diverse challenges.

Not only is there the new knowledge and

concepts that a student pilot must master,

but also the simultaneous implementation of

those mental systems – in a very different

and frightening environment compared to just

wandering on the surface of the Earth.

A new pilot has to learn a diverse range of novel

concepts and write at least eight exams on

those subjects alone. These range from engines

and airframes, air law, meteorology, navigation

and other subjects that, academically, seem to

be unconnected with each

other.

However, the practical

experience of actually

grasping the unfamiliar

controls of an aircraft

and competently guiding

it through an even more

unfamiliar third dimension

pulls all that essential

knowledge together. The

mental parallels between flying an aircraft and

controlling a corporate empire are remarkably

similar. An error made by a pilot could well be

his last. Similarly, a single error made by a

CEO could have devastating and irrevocable

consequences.

While learning to pilot an aircraft, the reality of

certain death is never more than a few moments

away, so just like for the CEO, decisions need

to be made quickly, correctly and decisively.

Decisions also rely on swift judgement based

on a broad base of knowledge, information and

skills, all of which are in themselves different

disciplines.

Perhaps the most important similarity between

flying and running a business is the ability to

accurately assess risk in the face of many

changing variables. All enterprises face a

plethora of risks, simply to stay afloat. And any

opportunities must be grasped before they slip

away. In the cockpit, a pilot must similarly be

proficient in assessing risk in order to stay in the

air. Changing weather conditions, navigational

uncertainties, potential mechanical failures,

aerodynamic considerations and knowing the

limitations of both the aircraft and himself are

factors continually swirling around in the pilot’s

mind.

For example, a pilot may find him or herself

in rapidly deteriorating unexpected weather

conditions. The instinctive tendency is to press

on with the mission, hoping desperately that

conditions will miraculously

improve. Hoping that

beyond that ugly line of

clouds filled with lightning,

hailstones and wing-

shredding winds, the sky

will be clear again.

Similarly, a CEO facing

unexpected deteriorating

economic conditions, filled

with pandemics, wars

and political instability

will instinctively hide those unpaid invoices

in the back of the cupboard and ignore the

strident demands from creditors, all the while

desperately hoping that the adverse conditions

will soon pass and times will be good again.

Both of the above examples are all too often

fatal.

This raises a corollary to the essential ability

of properly assessing risk – and that is the

ability to make effective contingency plans for

unexpected events – and to act decisively on

them when they occur, without dithering, hoping,

praying or succumbing to the delusional magical

thinking that those adverse conditions will simply

solve themselves.

decisions

need to be

made quickly,

correctly and

decisively

October 2023

The pilot is trained to always leave several back

doors open in case of something going wrong.

Pilots learn to turn back from bad weather

or divert to an alternate destination, to make

precautionary landings if those options become

unavailable.

The training environment for pilots is filled with

realities that evoke primal fears of imminent

death, notwithstanding that while under the

watchful eye of a competent instructor, it is really

quite safe. But the fear and trepidation inherent

in learning to fly serves a very useful purpose: it

burns those mental techniques and disciplines

firmly into the connections between those

hitherto unused neurons in the pilot’s brain.

Additionally, those newly-formed brain areas

are kept alive and functioning efficiently through

annual flight reviews, where an instructor will

put the pilot through those exercises and focus

on any weaknesses that may otherwise have

been forgotten. This is unlike the non-pilot CEO,

who may well have learned some of these tricks

and techniques long ago at university or from

other training courses. But through the years

these skills likely will have faded away and be

forgotten when adversity suddenly strikes. The

need to keep those neurons alive and functional

is very real.

So, the brains of pilot CEOs are bigger than

those that CEOs who are mere ground-

pounders – simply because they are using

those extra neurons that would otherwise

have died away – and their brains stay bigger

because those neurons are regularly kept fit and

exercised.

Steve v d Merwe gets the stamp of approval.

October 2023

Local Company Takes Up The Challenge

I was thoroughly reminded of these precepts

when I attended a gathering and luncheon at the

South African offices of EPI-USE, a multinational

software implementation company with many

offices around the world.

EPI-USE has embarked on a project of putting

seven of their up-and-coming executives

through a private pilot training course at

Lanseria Flight Centre. The seven are currently

well on their way to achieving their PPLs, and

are thoroughly enjoying the learning experience.

The project, which is based on the precept

that pilot CEOs make for much better CEOs, is

overseen by the SA EPI-USE CEO, Jonathan

Tager, himself a fellow Mooney owner and pilot.

It was also a pleasant surprise that the event

was attended by Tom Haines, the well-known

editor of AOPA Pilot Magazine in the USA, as

well as presenter of the popular AOPA Live

video series. Tom, who retired from AOPA USA

last year, thoroughly supported the programme

and has been a great friend and mentor to

AOPA South Africa since I first met him when

he attended the IAOPA World Assembly in

Stellenbosch way back in 2012. Since then, I

have met again and again with him in Beijing,

Chicago and Queenstown, New Zealand, as

well as benefiting from his generous assistance

electronically.

EPI-USE’s formally pioneering this concept in

South Africa is refreshingly welcome news for

the flight training industry in SA, which has been

experiencing some challenges over the last

few years. I will be addressing some of those

challenges next month.

Tom Haines in the centre and Chris Martinus on the right.