Those in observance were the elite of the nation’s defense structure. What they were observing was the inaugural flight of the nation’s most sophisticated fighter jet. The test pilot was one of the most experienced pilots in the nation with hours of harrowing combat duty. He was going to take the jet through a number of maneuvers no jet had ever been able to perform.
The tests were being performed flawlessly until about one-fourth of the way through the scheduled flight. It was at this point that the pilot aborted the flight and landed the plane.
A post-flight review indicated that the cockpit avionics had failed and the pilot could not continue the challenging maneuvers without the necessary information from the avionics package.
A subsequent review revealed the problem, but it also revealed a much more serious problem in the company’s design process. What they found was this: at the back of the avionics was a light source that would provide the necessary illumination for night flying. The specification for the light source led to the selection of a light that generated a lot of heat. The heat was thought to be a problem for the electronics, especially the wiring.
A fan was placed in the package to cool down the wiring but this presented another problem. Stray air could break connections and make the avionics inoperable.
The solution was to bundle together the wiring with a clamp. This would keep the wires from being disturbed by the air from the fan. To secure the clamp, it needed to be attached to the side of the avionics package with a screw.
All of this needed to be done within a very confined space. The avionics package had a front that was 5”x6”, and it had a depth of 12”. Assembling the package was a manufacturing challenge, and the employees could not generate enough torque to securely place the screw. Thus, a loose screw resulted in an embarrassing test of a multi-billion-dollar weapon system.
The conclusion of the review revealed the following problems:
- There were other light sources that would not have generated the heat which necessitated the fan. Purchasing was never asked to find alternate light sources.
- A fan was unnecessary and there was no need to bundle the wiring and secure it from stray air.
- The manufacturing of the unit remained a problem but no one from manufacturing was ever involved in the design of the avionics package.
We often see this problem in every organization. Key organizational units fail to work together. There is a culture of “we know what we need”. When collaboration is mandated, it often leads to a false sense of working together because there is lacking a true spirit of what each area of the organization can contribute. Egos get in the way, and accepting the ideas of others can be seen as a sign of weakness.
The result of this failure to collaborate is one of our society’s most pervasive problems. It’s evident in our governance at the top as much as it is in every organization.
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“Collaboration – the ultimate intertwining of skills, passions, and knowledge – is what concocts the most shatterproof forms of changemaking.” – Ian Somerhalder (actor)