Inverting the Cockpit Model: How to Build a System That Fits You
And Why You Must Design Your Workflow Around Your Personality, Not the Other Way Around.
Airlines don’t hire pilots and then redesign the cockpit around their personality. They test for specific traits, comfort with hierarchy, tolerance for repetition, ability to follow procedures under pressure and, if you don’t fit, you don’t fly.
The system is fixed. The person must adapt.
This isn’t cruelty. It’s necessity. When procedures keep hundreds of people alive, you can’t customize them for individual preference. The Boeing 737 doesn’t care if you’re introverted. The checklists don’t adjust for your working style. The regulation about maximum flight hours applies whether you’re a night owl or a morning lark.
Aviation Works Because It’s Rigid – But Running a Substack?
There’s no regulator. No type rating. No minimum rest requirements. Just me, a blank page, and the nagging sense that I was doing this wrong.
I’d been writing weekly, scrambling to figure out what to publish, pretending I was “engaging with my audience” while actually just procrastinating. Inconsistent output. Rising stress. The classic symptoms of someone trying to fit themselves into a system that doesn’t match how they actually work.
So I tried something different.
I took a personality assessment from a previous job interview, Predictive Index data I’d received but never really used, and fed it into AI with a simple instruction: You’re my supervisor. Optimize my workflow to make this sustainable.
I inverted the aviation model. Instead of fitting myself to a rigid system, I built a system that fit me.
The Experiment
The prompt I used was specific:
“Here are my Predictive Index behavioral assessment scores. Based on this data, design a personalized system for my Substack newsletter on aviation-based leadership.
Generate a strategy in three sections:
1. Content Creation & Writing Process - How should I structure my writing time to leverage my natural drive without leading to burnout?
1. Publishing Cadence & Consistency - What’s the optimal schedule that respects my need for structure while ensuring growth?
1. Audience Growth & Engagement - How do I use my traits in public-facing efforts to be authoritative without being off-putting?”
What came back wasn’t generic productivity advice. It was weirdly specific recommendations based on how my brain actually works.
What Changed
The AI suggested I stop writing week-to-week. My personality profile showed I perform better with buffer systems, planning ahead reduces stress, and batch processing fits my work style.
So, I shifted to writing articles weeks in advance.
Right now, I have months of articles drafted and ready. When I finish one, I don’t scramble for the next topic. I already know what’s coming. The panic is gone.
After each article, I create 5-15 notes about it, observations, extensions, related ideas, and save them in a text file. Each day, I set up three value-driven notes for the next day, plus one article promotion. This takes ten minutes. It removes the “what should I post today?” paralysis.
The biggest shift? I replaced almost all social media scrolling with Substack time. Same dopamine hits from engagement, but productive instead of wasteful. I’m not on Instagram being advertised to. I’m building my publication.
What This Actually Accomplished
Less stress. I’m not scrambling trying to write something coherent to publish every Tuesday.
Less decision fatigue. The structure handles the “what next?” questions so I can focus on writing.
More consistency. Readers get regular value because I’m not dependent on inspiration striking weekly.
None of this is revolutionary. It’s just workflow optimization. But here’s what made it work: the system was designed for my specific behavioral tendencies, not some idealized version of productivity.
When to Fit Yourself vs. Fit the System
Aviation can’t work this way. When I’m flying, I adapt to the systems, not the other way around. The autopilot doesn’t adjust to my mood. The regulations don’t bend to my preference.
But solopreneurship is different. You can control the constraints. There’s no regulatory minimum for how many articles you must publish. No certification requirement for your posting schedule. No safety case that demands you work a certain way.
Where you can’t control the system, large organizations, regulated industries, roles with immovable constraints, you fit yourself to what exists. Where you can control it, creative work, entrepreneurship, anything where you set the parameters, you can invert the model.
How to Try This Yourself
Take a free behavioral assessment. Personality.co offers one that’s decent. It won’t be as detailed as a paid Predictive Index, but it’s enough to work with.
Feed the results to AI with context about what you’re trying to build. Be specific. “Help me be more productive” gets generic advice. “Design a sustainable writing system for my newsletter based on these behavioral traits” gets actionable recommendations.
Implement what resonates. Ignore what doesn’t. The goal isn’t to follow the AI’s suggestions blindly, it’s to use your personality data as a lens for building structure that fits how you actually work, not how productivity gurus say you should work.
What I’m Still Learning
This isn’t a solved problem. I’m three months into this system and still adjusting. Some of the AI’s suggestions didn’t work. Others worked better than expected.
The buffer system is excellent for my stress levels but occasionally creates distance from current events. The batch note-taking works well until I forget to actually review the notes. Replacing social media with Substack time is productive but I’ve probably overcorrected, I may be less connected to broader conversations.
I’m adapting as I go. Which is the point. The system serves me, not the other way around.
The Broader Point
Aviation taught me the value of standardized procedures. But it also taught me when standardization is necessary and when it’s just convenience masquerading as best practice.
You can’t customize a checklist for each pilot. But you can customize your writing process for yourself.
You can’t adjust flight regulations for personal preference. But you can adjust your publishing schedule.
The question isn’t whether systems should be rigid or flexible. It’s whether rigidity serves the mission or just makes everyone’s life harder.
In aviation, rigidity saves lives.
In solopreneurship, flexibility might save your sanity.
Know which environment you’re in. Build accordingly.