Where is the Urgency?: Part 5 of 6

On January 15, 2009, Captain Chesley Sullenberger of U.S. Airways Flight 1549 solved an incredibly complex problem.  While on its initial climb out, the Airbus 320 he was piloting struck a flock of geese which resulted in an immediate loss of thrust from both engines.  The collective experience and training he had amassed from a career spent in aviation prepared him to take on this project.  The Problem Statement for this project: How does one land a powerless airplane that is unable to safely reach any airfield?  We all know how this story ends.  The Airbus sets down on the Hudson River and miraculously no one is seriously hurt.

Landing a dead airplane is a project.  There is a problem that requires a unique solution.  There are the classical constraints of time and resources.  There is a clearly defined goal and an understanding of the present state (gap analysis).  The only thing lacking was a project team.  Yet somehow, in the absence of a cross-functional collection of people, this project was successfully completed.  Would the solution have been better if a project team had been quickly assembled?  No.

In his landmark book, Blink, Malcolm Gladwell describes the power individuals have to process immense amounts of data and subconsciously solve complex problems.  This is exactly what happened on Flight 1549.  I know that there are some of you reading this blog who might be thinking; Dwain, this situation was too urgent to make it practical to form a project team.  To which I would respond, when did corporate projects lose their sense of urgency?

John Kotter says “true urgency is a gut-level determination to move and win, now.”  Its practitioners are not slow moving teams, but individuals determined to achieve something important.  These individuals shed irrelevant activities, like project team update meetings, to move faster and smarter than their competitors.

Next week, Part 6 of 6: Inherently Inflexible

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