“Why Do We Have to Go Through All This Change?”
When Stacey was twelve years old, she and her father, a pilot, took off on a Sunday afternoon joyride in their single-engine Cessna. Not long into the flight, and about a mile up over Lake Michigan, the joy of their father-daughter adventure came to an abrupt halt. The engine quit.
Stacey’s father turned to her and in a calm, reassuring tone said, “Honey, the engine has quit. I’m going to need to fly the plane differently.” Interesting phrase: “Fly the plane differently.”
Her father understood that new challenges and changing conditions often require different strategies. Conditions change, markets change, people change. What works one day in a given situation does not necessarily work the next. In fact, as we write in Outstanding! 47 Ways to Make Your Organization Exceptional, “The reality is if a strategy or tactic is working now, the odds are high that it won’t work in the future. There is just too much change taking place in our world for it to be any other way.” So we need to develop a repertoire of responses to be prepared when our engine unexpectedly quits.
In order to restart the engine, they needed more airspeed. Stacey’s father told her he would be hitting switches in the cockpit while he steered the plane downward. (Toward the deep, cold waters of Lake Michigan! I thought as she told me the story.) Stacey understood, and sensing the gravity of the situation, quickly nodded her approval of Dad’s plan. (This did not go off to the headquarters for a “committee decision”—a term that always strikes me as an oxymoron.)
Her father put the plane into a dive and fiddled with the switches, but nothing happened. He leveled off closer to the water. “Stacey, we’re going to try that again,” he said. “Hang on!” They dove a second time. He hit the switches again as the plane gained speed, and this time the engine fired, first with just a few hopeful sputters, but finally with a secure, familiar hum.
About twenty minutes later, they landed safely. At that point, this Rock of Gibraltar kind of guy, this Fearless Father, this Man of Courage turned to his twelve-year-old daughter, lovingly patted her shoulder, and said, “Now, honey, whatever you do, don’t tell Mom!”
I love this story. Not just for the drama and the humor, but for what it says about handling change. When faced with a new situation, Stacey’s dad took action and solved the problem. But if he had resisted the change and instead spent his time whining and complaining, having thoughts like I’ve never done it this way before! or asking IQs such as “Why do we have to go through all this change?” things might have turned out much differently.
Are you facing change? Any engines quit in your life lately? If so, ask a better question. Here’s one that really works: “How can I adapt to the changing world?”