Building Airplanes—in the Air
At our All Employee meeting last week, I showed a video clip of an EDS commercial called “Airplanes.” It shows a crew building an airplane—while it is flying. This pretty much sums up how most of us are feeling this quarter.
The Fallon agency of Minneapolis produced the commercial. They also produced the EDS Cat Herders, EDS Running with the Squirrels, PBS Fearless Fish, and Sony Balls commercials.
This commercial is a fitting metaphor for our fourth fiscal quarter (the one we are currently in, ending March 31). We are pushing to finish the final quarter. Everyone is working hard to finish producing, selling, marketing, and shipping as much product as we can. We want to finish the year strong!
We are also in the middle of the One Company transition. This has been an enormous—but necessary—amount of work. We are re-coding our database of thousands of products, so that they flow into our newly-formed strategic publishing units (SPUs). We are also handing off projects to new editors, redesigning logos, and a thousand-and-one-other transition issues. The One Company design team has been especially working hard.
Finally, we are slogging through our annual budgeting process. We are finalizing our FY 2008 title list, forecasting sales, estimating expenses, and planning for growth. This is an iterative process that involves all of our management and analysis team.
If you put these three projects together, it’s kind of like trying to build an airplane in the sky. You want to get the job done without losing altitude. It’s challenging, to say the least.
If you work at Thomas Nelson, you know exactly what I am talking about. But even if you don’t, I bet you’ve faced times in your life when getting it all done. If so, what this commercial and have a good laugh.
Technorati Tags: airplanes, commercials, eds, fallon, thomas nelson, video, workflow
Posted on January 28, 2007
In: Leadership
MICHELE CUSHATT is a communicator and storyteller whose speaking experience includes Women of Faith, Focus on the Family, and Compassion International. As emcee and communication coach, Michele is in her sixth year on staff at 
BARRY HILL, JR. is a storyteller, blogger, speaker, barista, and is in his fifteenth year of full-time ministry to teens and their families. He lives in Northern Virginia with his wife, Rachel, and their six children—“the circus.” You can usually find Barry where fresh coffee and good ideas are brewing. To join in the conversation, drop by his blog, 
JOE LALONDE is a husband, explorer, challenger, and an adrenaline junkie. He has served as a youth leader for E3 Ministries for over 10 years. He is usually found wandering the woods, enjoying the company of his wife, or running the trails. Joe enjoys helping others expand their influence and leadership skills. You can connect with Joe at his 
RACHEL LANCE is originally from Alaska but now lives in a Chicago suburb with her husband and daughter. She works in technology and communications for the 
JIM MARTIN is the minister of Crestview Church of Christ in Waco, Texas, where he has served since 1994. He also leads a mentoring group, primarily composed of younger Christian leaders, and serves as a Mentoring Partner for 
TIM PETERS is the Co-Founder of 
JASON STAMBAUGH is a husband, father, former fat kid, accidental techie, and founder of 
JEREMY STATTON is an orthopedic surgeon in Louisville, KY. Although he enjoys writing, reading, and running, his first love is his wife and four kids. His family is currently in the process of adopting a son from China. He is also the author of 
JOHN TILLER is an inspirational speaker and writer. He travels with his family to churches, conferences, and other events sharing 
JUSTIN WISE is the social strategist for 
