Whenever I
fly, I am always keenly aware of the brakes when we land. I may doze off during
other portions of the trip, but I always make note of the landing,
A friend of
mine works in the aviation industry, and it was he who heightened my awareness
of them. “The brakes are the most difficult part of the plane,” he said. “They
must endure terrific heat and pressure, multiple times per day without
intervention in between. It is very challenging to get them right.”
Ever since
that comment decades ago, I think of what it must take to bring a multi-ton jet
to a stop in a fairly constricted distance. You must achieve the deceleration
gradually, but ultimately firmly, to bring the plane to a complete stop.
I think the
brakes are an analogy useful for organizations as well as airplanes. It is
difficult to get braking right. A great amount of pressure and heat surrounds
the braking process – whether it involves ending an existing program or
bringing a jetliner to a halt.
Just as the
aerospace industry puts significant effort into getting the stopping process
right, so should your organization. Have a plan in place to schedule landings –
you can always take off again, but it is helpful to have plans to bring things
in for an evaluation. Regularly review what you have stopped doing as well as
what you have added.
Organizations
find it hard to stop doing things, but a plane flies better after a landing and
refueling. So do projects and organizational services.
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