Pilots have this. You should, too.

Several weeks ago, I wrote about the importance of context - the "why" behind the "what".   Providing context to those working with you is incredibly important, but what do you do if no one provides context for you?

The ability to collect disparate pieces of information and form a mental picture of what is going around you, and where you fit in, can be just as important as context.   Moreso, in fact, when you have little or no context to operate under.   This mental picture is called situational awareness and can benefit you and your team when a less-than-perfect amount of contextual information is available.

Consider a pilot flying in instrument conditions.   He or she cannot see anything outside, except for a wall of gray combined with some occasional rain on the windscreen.   Inside, an array of dials and gauges along with a communications radio is all that is required for the pilot to understand his exact position in three dimensional space.     While the specifics of how this is done is beyond the scope of this post, the idea is that by paying attention to seemingly minor details and bits of information, you can assemble a detailed picture of where you are, where you are going, and what is going on around you.

Consider another environment, this time one far removed from the cockpit.    A project manager or team lead has every ability to gauge the progress of a project based without boring status meetings and without daily one-on-one discussions with each of the team members.   How, you might ask?    By paying attention to subtle cues and behaviors among the team.    What is the general mood?   Is the team upbeat, challenged but happy in the progress they are making?    Or are people working madly all the time, skipping lunch and working long hours?    Does everyone on the team exude confidence that they are going in the right direction, or are there constant discussions about the most recent change in business or product direction?

In the cockpit, losing situational awareness never, ever helps to make a flight safer.   Similarily, not
paying attention to the situation in and around your team will not help your project succeed.   Like the high time professional pilot,  you must pay attention to what is happening around you.  Doing so will allow you to maintain good situational awareness, and will allow you address small problems before they turn into large ones.   Knowing your current position in the air is important - if you don't know it, then others will likely read about it in the newspaper tomorrow.     Leading a project isn't all that different.

Ever been on a lost project?   What was it like?   What was the outcome?