Boeing: A Case Study on Authentic Identity
The Boeing Dreamliner. Wikimedia Commons.
We humans, and our companies have a profound tendency to define themselves in ways that can be taken away. Who are we when we can no longer perform a role that we have used to define ourselves? This is a challenge for humanity as people become self-identified with their careers, parenthood, and hobbies and are left in an existential crisis when those activities, or roles change or end. This kind of thinking is ubiquitous, but that does not make it accurate. For example; Boeing’s identity as a builder of safe aircraft was once beyond reproach, now it is all we can do. It did not happen entirely because of leadership, it happened because each individual working there chose to abandon the only aspect of their identity that was real.
Self-identification with a task or a role can be problematic when we connect the value of our “being” to a role. When cultural values supporting that role shift, it can leave us vulnerable to misguided actions. In other words, when we hang our identity on to the title of “engineer” for example, we can be compelled to do that job poorly and lead ourselves and others into catastrophe. In this situation we have been rendered insignificant by the culture and ourselves because the title “engineer” is not the thing. When we are no longer properly performing the work of an engineer, are we one? True self awareness results from the ability to recognize that our identity is not our role titles, but our ability to observe the self and remain aware to respond in elevated ways to the challenges we face.
Psychologist, Viktor Frankl’s observation from his experience of the concentration camps was that there was only one thing that his captors could not strip away from him, and that was his ability to choose his response in a given situation. He wrote, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” P. 64 Man’s Search for Meaning .
Viktor Frankl Wikimedia Commons
In choosing our own way, we capture something of incredible importance. We gain an authentic identity as the observer of situations and the chooser of our response. We call this “self awareness.” We can never have this ability stripped away from us by circumstance or others, we can only give it up willingly ourselves. In doing so we give up our most authentic self and render ourselves insignificant.
Boeing, the manufacturer had a long history of a cultural of self awareness. The culture was to observe a problem or challenge carefully and authentically, and to choose or create the best possible course of action in response. The organization had to fight for this ability constantly for itself. The pressure of financial limitations and time constraints tempted those involved to abandon this foundational identity. But people like Joe Sutter, understood that the title of engineer meant nothing if there was an inability to clearly observe and choose the elevated course of action freely. “To choose one’s own way.”
Queen of The Skies. . .The Celebrated Boeing 747. One of the finest aircraft to grace the skies. Wikimedia Commons
Joe fought this fight time and again during the development and production of the “Queen of the skies” the Boeing 747 in the 1960’s. Once Joe was told to cut 1000 engineers from the 747 project because the company was near financial ruin. Joe observed the problem, asked his people what they thought they should do and responded. Standing in front of the company leadership he said; “I concluded, struggling to keep my voice calm, "is that I cannot give up any engineers. In fact, I need eight hundred more.1" He did not get 800 more, but he made his point. He believed his response even if it could land him in the unemployment line. But instead it brought him respect. This is how we earn an authentic identity as individuals or as a company. This is the substance behind the title or role. The act of knowing we have a responsibility to observe and to respond in an elevated way creates an aspect of our authentic identity. The aircraft they produced saved the company and the team is known to this day as, “The Incredibles.”
When our response can not be controlled by outside forces, we are no longer a slave. We are guiding ourselves to the most elevated response. This is the true leadership, to lead ourselves and others to the highest potential that serves the greatest good.
Tragically, self awareness of Boeing the company, and the individuals that work(ed) there has waned. The merger with McDonnell Douglas, the culture of shareholder value over self aware work and engineering has rendered the people who work there insignificant in the process of serving the greatest good. This is the primary hazard. This is the true story behind the tragedies of the 737 Max 8 aircraft. Three hundred and forty six people perished because thousands lost their way.
Following leaders always leaves us vulnerable to their whims and weaknesses. Observe and choose your own way. There is a principle that aircraft manufacturers should abide by, if a system is safety critical it must be redundant. . .to have a parallel system that runs in support of the main one. This is true of aircraft mechanical systems. The importance of this cannot be overstated as it’s value is apparent in human systems too.