The gravitational pull is real.
That’s me, mid-air over the Palm.
Not a simulation.
Not a metaphor.
Just a real moment where everything depended on knowing my altitude and being ready for it.
The experience and the lesson apply to transformations.
Too many companies plan for a road trip or a 10-foot hop when in reality, they’re leaping from the Burj khalifa…with nothing but a beach umbrella.
I’ve seen it happen:
• The BSS “replacement” that quietly touches 80+ systems
• The “quick cloud migration” with 400 tangled integrations
• The CRM “reskin” that’s actually a full customer experience overhaul
• The “straightforward” culture shift that no one told the middle managers about
It’s not the ambition that gets teams in trouble.
It’s the misjudgment of the distance to the ground.
𝗕𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗺. It demands preparation.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗹𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁
🚧 𝗔𝘁 𝟭𝟬 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝘁
You stumble. You recover.
Agile pivots and quick fixes work here.
Most “digital transformations” think they’re here.
🪂 𝗔𝘁 𝟭,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝘁
You need gear, parachutes, safety checks, real change management.
This is where most transformations actually are.
🛬 𝗔𝘁 𝟯𝟬,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝘁
Only professionals thrive.
Life support systems. Multi-year roadmaps. Dedicated landing teams.
This is enterprise transformation.
🚫 At the edge of space
No standard tools are enough.
Some jumps require rethinking the approach entirely.
Choosing not to jump isn’t hesitation, it’s strategic wisdom.
Take away:
Not all jumps require parachutes.
Some can be solved with a ladder.
Others need tandem experts, pre-checked weather, and a clearly scoped landing zone.
And some jumps?
They’re simply too high for the gear you’ve got.
The smart move isn’t to jump harder it’s to pause, replan, or walk away.
Here’s the twist:
The most dangerous altitude isn’t during a storm it’s when skies look clear.
𝗙𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗺 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿.
Altitude illusions happen when we confuse stability with simplicity.
So before your next transformation:
• 𝗠𝗮𝗽 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲. Count every system, stakeholder, and dependency and then double-check.
• 𝗚𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘂𝗽 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝘆. The higher the jump, the tighter the alignment needs to be.
• 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗴𝗼 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲. Skydivers bring guides. Transformation leaders should too.
The riskiest jumps aren’t the ones from the edge of space.
They’re the ones that look safe from a distance.
Next time you’re standing at the transformation door check your altitude before gravity does, and the next time you’re asked to lead a transformation, start with this question: how high are we really jumping?
