Food for Thought: Practice and Evaluation

The U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels are a picture of disciplined excellence. This aerial acrobatic team of pilots mesmerizes audiences throughout the country with their precision flying formations and stunts. Each air show is a visual reminder that the team has spent thousands of hours practicing for what the 11 million annual spectators see. But even with all of that preparation, the Blue Angels end each performance the same way. They head back to their temporary quarters to review and scrutinize every move they made in great detail. This perpetual evaluation of what seemed like a flawless presentation keeps the pilots performing at their highest level and assures the safety necessary to excel. High-achievement expert Yehuda Shinar notes that such continuous evaluation “helps winners to identify how they can increase the frequency of success and decrease the frequency of failure.” Why People Fail, Siimon Reynolds, 2012, p.78

The article above makes it clear that it is not just practice that makes the Blue Angels so outstanding at what they do. It’s the fact that they evaluate their performances in an effort to identify flaws and figure out how to improve them.

Individuals, families, companies, schools and churches can all take a lesson from those dedicated pilots. We can all do better! Not only do we need to practice what we know works, but we also need to change our strategies according to what we learn by evaluating the effectiveness of our tactics. For example, if we learn that we are stuck in old ways of thinking we can find a way to update our thinking. Instead of wanting to keep doing things the same old ways, we can learn to listen to wise counsel and find sensible alternatives, especially as they line up with God’s will.

We can find out what God’s will is by looking to the Scripture, consulting Bible experts, and by remembering the teachings of Jesus Christ who is our example. Then, we must pray for direction and put into practice everything we’ve learned.

"Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance.” Proverbs 1:5