How to Change Course

Changing course of such a large operation is a complicated task. What makes the task more daunting is the need to continue to deliver aircraft designed under the old system while installation of the new one occurs. Phil Condit explained the "Stampede Theory of Management" in a talk to the Haas School of Business at Berkeley. He pointed out that during a conversation with Arthur Young of Hewlett Packard fame, Mr. Young introduced him to the theory. The analogy is that getting a successful company to move forward quickly is akin to getting a stampede started, and once the stampede is going full speed, any change of direction must be made gradually and from someone running alongside. Standing in front of the stampede and pointing out a completely new direction will get you run over, and introducing change too fast will result in the stampede not being able to make the corner. An important lesson that Boeing learned is not to make too many changes at the same time.

Originally developed by Shadd Shokralla