The Basics

 “It’s your basic suck, squeeze, bang and blow.”

I was admiring a pristine Rolls Royce helicopter engine at an air show in my former career as I heard these descriptive words. Following an internal “Excuse me?...”, my jaw was positioned awkwardly on the ground – and not because the engine was so amazing.

I later learned that this is common terminology for the workings of an engine; though I am not sure the salesman’s intro comment was without ulterior inferences. In any case, the experience has stuck with me and provided me with a good amount of mental fodder to chew on. At a very high level, air is taken in to the engine where it is compressed, combustion occurs and then the air is expelled in the form of exhaust. There are more details, of course but, at the end of the day, it’s your basic suck squeeze, bang and blow…just like leadership.

1.)  Suck

How is your air supply? Engines, like leadership, are present to propel something forward. 

…To create movement.

…To facilitate progress.

With no air, there is no subsequent squeezing, banging or blowing. You must have an air supply, it must be reliable and it must be constant. In addition to engine examination, I also do yoga. Yoga is ALL ABOUT THE BREATH. My teacher is constantly reminding the class to breathe. Physiologically, your brain dies without oxygen. Your whole body depends on effective air supply. The health of your organization, your family and your business depend on you ensuring that fresh resource flows freely into it. Resource takes many forms. Find out what kind of resource(s) your business needs and then suck it in.

2.)  Squeeze

This is where all the necessary components for an explosion get smashed together. This is the chaos that precedes progress. It IS NECESSARY FOR MOTION. Don’t’ be afraid of it. It’s not supposed to be comfortable. It’s supposed to feel mildly out of control. Learn to love the squeeze – or at least to accept it as a necessary part of the whole process.

3.)  Bang

The bang is the fun part. That’s true in many things. This is where you start to feel like you’re getting somewhere and things are actually happening. Momentum gathers and you realize that the all the squeezing was for a reason and a purpose – and something is building. This is the exciting part that means things are running.

4.)  Blow

Without getting rid of the exhaust, the engine dies. It must take in fresh air and get rid of used up air. This is the same as everything in life. If we want the process to work as it should, we need to let go of the stale, used up air and not try to continue breathing it. If you breathe exhaust, you die. If you refuse to get rid of what is already used up, you will stall. The engine can’t run on old air and neither can the things you lead. Stay fresh. Don’t cling to things that need to be blown out the tailpipe of your organization.

Here’s the killer. This process is repeated by your car’s engine thousands of times between your garage and the grocery store. Seriously. There is not one revolution through this cycle; there are millions over the lifetime of the engine. There will be millions over the lifetime of your organization. GET COMFORTABLE WITH IT. It will happen over and over and over again – sometimes in the same day. The trick is to recognize where you’re at in the process and have a realistic set of expectations around that phase. If you’re ready to roll, don’t make it complicated.

It’s your basic suck, squeeze, bang and blow.

Lean forward,

Bekka