Via SmashingTelly comes a 5 hour PBS/BBC documentary about taking great risks in the aerospace industry.

“I was a young engineer here in 1969 when two thirds of the Boeing population left, during the period when there was a big sign outside of Seattle that read ‘last person out please turn out the lights.’ That clearly has affected the way I think about organizations and the stability of organizations.  Be more careful when you’re going up because on the other side of up is always down. We went up way too fast, we weren’t efficient in process, so when we got to the top we were way over-manned and the far side was very steep. Don’t want to ever do that again.”

- Phil Condit, Boeing, General Manager 777 Division

It’s probably possible to understand and manage growth while it’s happening, to learn the lessons of collapse without ever having to live through one. It’s possible to embrace risk and pursue growth while keeping an eye on the horizon. Condit recommends that you focus on process efficiency during times of rapid growth.