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The View from 30,000 Feet

The View from 30,000 Feet

I’m writing this on Wednesday at 33,000 feet somewhere above the corn belt, en route from Charlotte to Phoenix. I’m keynoting tomorrow morning in Scottsdale, then flying to LA to board a Qantas flight to Sydney for my week-long speaking tour starting Monday.

My flight to Charlotte originated at Greene Airport in Warwick, RI, about ten minutes from my home. My wife drove me over in the truck with the dogs, which was once a weekly occurrence, going back to the Great Dog Trotsky, but is now very rare. Before flying home from Europe two weeks ago, my last plane ride was in May.

At 6:30 am my wife, Koufax, and Buddy all yawned goodbye, and I headed for airport security, which is run very well at Greene. Three security people checked IDs in a fast moving line, and I reached my guy in less than 30 seconds. He held up my passport, looked at my boarding pass, made a crack about my photo, initialed the paper boarding pass I had printed up the day prior, and waved me on. This took about a half-minute.

I then placed in bins my liquids, computer, gasses, rare ores, change, Lone Ranger decoder ring, photos of Michelle Pfeiffer, mementoes from Monte Carlo, and enteric X-rays; removed six articles of clothing, and walked through the metal detector. As my possessions slid past, another security guy politely checked my boarding pass, then indicated I could repack and redress. The guy behind me looked enviously at my Pfeiffer photos.

This entire procedure took about two minutes.

Reassembled, I headed for one last guy at a podium next to a small exit gate. He gave a five-second perfunctory glance at the boarding pass, and told me to have a nice day, though with less relish than I would have preferred. I had plenty of leeway to boarding time, so I stopped by the shoeshine stand and took a seat while another customer was finishing up.

It was while sitting there, idly glancing at my boarding pass, that I noticed the wrong time on it: 11:20. But my flight, I knew, was to depart at 8:10.

That was when I realized I had pulled out the connection boarding pass, gone through Greene security showing my Charlotte to Phoenix boarding pass, which was now initialed and very official, but was not going to get me on the plane TO Charlotte. So, I simply switched the boarding passes, got my shoes shined, and got on board. Three trained professionals had approved me with the wrong boarding pass.

Now, these folks at security were quite polite and very professional and doing their best. But I will posit that the entire security apparatus is designed merely to give us a perception of safety and a feeling of confidence. It does not decrease any but the most amateurish of evil people. (The real vulnerability at most airports is the food, fuel, and service trucks which constantly enter and exit and traverse the grounds.)

The billion dollar security business is about managing perceptions. (I travel with a three-and-three-quarters-inch scissor, which is fine, but four inches is not. Who makes this stuff up?) Analogously, The current financial bailout is to give the impression that something is being done, though no one but no one has any idea about all the variables and whether it will work. It’s about assurance (not ensurance or insurance) in a segment, investing, where confidence, mood, and perception are everything.

The security people did their best but they are in a paralyzingly numbing job. Marshall McLuhan pointed out that the price of eternal vigilance is indifference. If three consecutive people could stare at a boarding pass not even originating in their airport, with a flight and gate that don’t exist there, and miss the error, what does that tell you about the efficacy of the system dealing with millions of people a day?

I’ll concede that perception is reality. And maybe a great many people’s perception is that all the fuss and feathers in airport security—the humiliation of being treated like a criminal, of taking off clothing, of revealing personal items, of being sniffed and frisked and delayed—is worth the time and trouble and fortune.

But my perception is that we need more substance and less simulation, more concern about probabilities, and less energy spent on innocent people losing a bottle of shampoo because it contains over three ounces of, well, shampoo.

I don’t know who’s going to be elected or even for whom I’ll vote, but I’ll tell you what kind of checking we need him to encourage at the airports, in our financial markets, and in our lives.

A reality check.

© Alan Weiss 2008. All rights reserved.

Written by

Alan Weiss is a consultant, speaker, and author of over 60 books. His consulting firm, Summit Consulting Group, Inc., has attracted clients from over 500 leading organizations around the world.

Comments: 7

  • Richard Martin

    October 1, 2008

    I think this is one of your best blog posts ever.

  • Chad Barr - Alan's Blog Implementer & Moderator

    October 1, 2008

    You are correct Richard and please check out this one as well:
    http://www.contrarianconsulting.com/balancing-act/october-2008.php#musings

  • Alastair McDermott

    October 2, 2008

    Agree 100% with you. Countless hours and money is being wasted in ineffective security measures.

    One of my real bugbears is not being allowed to take razor blades through security in my carry-on, only to find those exact blades for sale 3 feet after the metal detectors (Dublin Airport).

  • Lisa Braithwaite

    October 2, 2008

    Alan, I had a good laugh reading this post.

  • Tim 'Gonzo' Gordon

    October 2, 2008

    Last night a friend relayed this story, a year or two ago on United:

    Skycap told them to check in with gate 10 minutes before boarding. When they arrived 15 minutes before boarding, their seats (3 family members) had been given up because they were supposed to have been there 30 minutes early! Skycap was wrong, but it didn’t matter. The attendant at the gate didn’t care and couldn’t do anything.

    My friend raised holy hell to no avail. Finally in exasperation one of the attendants at the gate said “We have these rules in place for a reason.”

    What reason? said my friend.

    The terrorists. Protection.

    “Well, if I were a terrorist, this would be perfect – because my luggage is on that plane but I AM NOT!”

    Reality Check, Indeed.

  • Lindy Asimus

    October 2, 2008

    All good experience for you. Good training for arrival in Sydney and experiencing our Customs and Quarantine departments! 😉

  • Mark Fallon

    October 9, 2008

    Catching up on your blog and chuckled when I read this. Last year, I was traveling to Kansas City from Boston every week. On Monday, I checked in, put my ticket in my jacket pocket, got a cup of coffee, and then went through a similar security dance (however, I have no Michelle Pfeiffer photos). Boarded the plane, and sat down realizing I had the same sat as the week before – 4B.

    Upon landing in Cincinatti, I reached for my connecting ticket. I noticed the date was wrong, it was last week’s ticket. I was wearing the same blazer, and had used the prior week’s ticket to go through security and even board the plane!

    I feel so safe (sarcasm intended).

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