Target Fixation

[Bill Greenwood]

A fighter pilot closing on a slower target, ie bomber, at a high rate of speed can get "fixated" so that he underestimates the rapidly shrinking distance.
Just saw a news story yesterday, sort of in reverse. In this case it was the real Target.
A customer was walking across the parking lot and found a used needle on the ground, the Mom brushed it out of her daughter's hand and was stuck by the needle and infected, resulting in being hospitalized, husband missing work, etc. Their lawyer asked the company for $12,000 to cover these costs. The company refused, fixated on not paying anything. It went to a jury who just awarded the lady $4.6 million. Could have paid $12k, probably a minutes worth of revenue, and had an amiable end.
I wonder how often we, either as people, organizations, or nations insist on the difficult path?I was thinking about the Cuban missle crisis and the patience and judgement JFK had when it was most needed. Maybe an all too rare thing in todays world but maybe even more needed, when we have missile and nuclear tests in N. Korea and our bombers flying a demo flight close to their border.
Closer to home, EAA has showed patience and persistence when dealing with the FAA, and the pilots rghts bill which hopefully will come to pass this year.

[Gary737]

Good points Bill. Penny wise and Pound foolish?

Just saw a bumper sticker in Leesburg, Va today and it made me laugh out loud..... having 'dealt' with the FAA for 20 years.

"FAA: We're not happy until you're not happy"

[Byron J. Covey]

A fighter pilot closing on a slower target, ie bomber, at a high rate of speed can get "fixated" so that he underestimates the rapidly shrinking distance.
Just saw a news story yesterday, sort of in reverse. In this case it was the real Target.
A customer was walking across the parking lot and found a used needle on the ground, the Mom brushed it out of her daughter's hand and was stuck by the needle and infected, resulting in being hospitalized, husband missing work, etc. Their lawyer asked the company for $12,000 to cover these costs. The company refused, fixated on not paying anything. It went to a jury who just awarded the lady $4.6 million. Could have paid $12k, probably a minutes worth of revenue, and had an amiable end.

Corporate lawyers usually want to settle as a matter of managing the corporate image and managing cost. Defendants typically want to fight to the end when they think that they were unjustly accused of wrong doing. Someone fairly high up in Target must have felt that they had done nothing wrong. Was Target actually guilty of negligence? Or did the jury ignore right and wrong and decide to award because the insurance company would pay and that poor lady should be compensated?

I wonder how often we, either as people, organizations, or nations insist on the difficult path?I was thinking about the Cuban missle crisis and the patience and judgement JFK had when it was most needed. Maybe an all too rare thing in todays world but maybe even more needed, when we have missile and nuclear tests in N. Korea and our bombers flying a demo flight close to their border.
Closer to home, EAA has showed patience and persistence when dealing with the FAA, and the pilots rghts bill which hopefully will come to pass this year.

Unlike his judgement when he got cold feet and failed to provide the expected air support at the Bay of Pigs. You do know that he had a USN destroyer in Havana Harbor during the BoP invasion, steaming back and forth trying to provoke an attack, don't you? One might say that Fidel displayed patience and judgement in not attacking, thus insuring that the Cuban people would suffered mightily over the next 66 years.

Sorry - I just returned from Cuba, and the people there are much worse off than I imagined.


BJC

[DaleB]

Sorry - I just returned from Cuba, and the people there are much worse off than I imagined.

What?? But it's supposed to be a worker's paradise! How could that be?

[Byron J. Covey]

What?? But it's supposed to be a worker's paradise! How could that be?

The Castro brothers.


BJC