{"id":1886,"date":"2019-07-20T20:55:48","date_gmt":"2019-07-21T03:55:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/b-spoke.net\/?p=1886"},"modified":"2026-06-29T22:00:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T22:00:29","slug":"gravity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thirdactmedia.com\/b-spoke\/2019\/07\/20\/gravity\/","title":{"rendered":"Feeling Gravity’s Pull"},"content":{"rendered":"
A Four Minute Read<\/h6>\n

They gave us too much Delta-V. They had us burn too long. At this rate we’re gonna skip right out of the atmosphere, and we’re never gonna get back.\u201d \u2013 Jack Swigert (Kevin Bacon), Apollo 13<\/em><\/h3>\n

A spacecraft trying to reenter Earth\u2019s atmosphere faces a conundrum \u2013 if it comes in too high and fast, it will fail. If it comes in too slow or too \"people\"<\/a>shallow, it will fail.<\/p>\n

There are Change Advocates who claim that the \u201conly\u201d way to change an organization is to move with lightning speed \u2013 faster than anyone can process the change. Be bold, be fast, be furious \u2013 like tearing off a Band-Aid. And there are those who easily fall prey to an overabundance of caution \u2013 letting analysis paralysis to set in.<\/p>\n

Leading a Change effort is a lot like Captain Swigert trying to bring in his space capsule \u2013 unless you plan it just right and execute that plan \u2013 there is real danger trying to navigate through your atmosphere.<\/p>\n

Not Too Fast<\/h4>\n

If a spaceship\u2019s velocity is too high, it simply overheats. There are heat shields \u2013 but they can only take so \"\"much. And, as we\u2019ve seen with the Columbia<\/em>, even the tiniest flaw in the heat shields can be fatal.<\/p>\n

Trying to change your organization too fast can cause the same problem. People will be agitated to begin with \u2013 racing through the process, not allowing them time to process, increases both their number and their frustration level. They either flame out or incinerate those around them. You can try to engineer protections \u2013 a \u201cheat shield\u201d, if you will \u2013 but the odds of designing a countermeasure with enough integrity to face that challenge, without any weakness or cracks \u2013 are long indeed.<\/p>\n

Not Too Steep<\/h4>\n

It\u2019s not the velocity, it\u2019s the angle. Coming in too steep creates too much friction. Friction causes heat (see above), but also eats away at every exposed surface of the spacecraft. The ship literally disintegrates in midair.<\/p>\n

Sharply driving the effort deep into the organization with blunt force (\u201cIt\u2019s change \u2013 get over it already\u201d) creates enormous organizational friction. Excess meetings (formal and informal), gossip, a distracted workforce \u2013 all takes away from the real work to be done, and can cause the change effort to vaporize without a moment\u2019s notice.<\/p>\n

Not Too Shallow or Slow<\/h4>\n

Director Ron Howard \"\"and the Apollo 13<\/em> screenwriters got this wrong. A spaceship doesn\u2019t skip off the atmosphere like one of Opie Taylor\u2019s river stones. What happens is, if a ship is coming in too shallow, it takes too long to slow down to landing speed. The longer that takes, the more distance it travels \u2013 which means it will miss its landing spot and touch down in parts unknown.<\/p>\n

Dragging out a change event \u2013 perhaps because you\u2019re waiting for everyone to get on board \u2013 means you\u2019ll likely shoot past important milestones. When you wrap up \u2013 and where the organization is, strategically, seasonally, productivity-wise \u2013 is anyone\u2019s guess.<\/p>\n

The longer the spaceship is traveling through the atmosphere, the more fuel it\u2019s burning \u2013 which eventually runs out. The ship will drop like a stone.<\/p>\n

Change takes a lot of \u201cfuel\u201d \u2013 leadership brainpower, employee emotion, the balancing of cognitive dissonance across the organization. Dragging out a change event just wears everyone down. Eventually, they just stop.<\/p>\n

The longer the spaceship is traveling through the atmosphere, the longer it\u2019s exposed to heat. While it\u2019s not an intense inflammation like a too-fast landing, eventually the insulation melts, and the ship (and everyone on board) melts with it.<\/p>\n

Even those with the most endurance, who seem to have a never-ending supply of energy, eventually burn out.<\/p>\n

So What to Do About This?<\/h4>\n

\"\"Emulating Mission Caption Matt Kowalsky – bailing, and drifting away into space (sorry, wrong film) – isn\u2019t an option. Like a space mission, a change effort requires planning and careful consideration:<\/p>\n