Citing Boeing as an ideal example, they lost more than 90% of their revenue after World War II.  How did they survive?  They looked ahead and found an opportunity to reinvent themselves. They decided to transfer their knowledge about building airplanes for the military to the commercial aircraft market.  Collins shared that everyone thought Boeing was crazy at the time, but by ‘zooming out’ 20 years, they were able to anticipate the Jet age. 

Years ago, most railroad companies thought they were in the railroad business.  That’s what they kept focus on.  Many of their competitors decided that the business they ought to be in was the people transportation business.  Who do you think won out?

As an avid rock climber, Collins explained that the one thing you learn about climbing a mountain, is that those who panic, die on the mountain.  ”You don’t just sit on the mountain.  You either go up or go down, but don’t just sit and wait to get clobbered.  If you go down and survive, you can come back another day.”  

In this economic environment, there are plenty of mountains for all of us to climb, and no one can ignore the brutal facts. But we can choose to look beyond today’s problems and envision what lies ahead.  Not to just survive, but make it a defining point in the history of your organization?  No, it may not look like you had initially envisioned.  But then, it might be even better.