Have been involved in a few projects now, where perception and definition of system stability is required. Tried a search to find any simple guide for defining system stability and couldn’t find anything, So I have decided to offer this as a guideline:-

BMC’s System Stability Scale

Level 5 = Bulletproof = 3-months without a Severity-1 or Severity- 2 incident.
Level 4 = Stable = 1-Month without a Severity-1 incident, 1-week without a Severity-2 incident.
Level 3 = Usable = 1-week without a Severity-1 incident, <5 x Severity-2 incidents in past week .
Level 2 = Unstable = 2 x Severity-1 or 5+ x Severity-2 incidents in past week.
Level 1 = Catastrophic = System unavailable for more than 24hrs.

Here is a useful checklist I found in the book eXtreme Project Management.

Reasons for low desire	Reasons for low confidence
[ ] Been there, done that. Already working 60hr weeks.	[ ] The team doesn’t have the skills.
[ ] Don’t see the business value for the project.	[ ] People are spread too thin; competing priorities.
[ ] My role is unlcear.	[ ] Project Manager has a dubious track record.
[ ] Little or no say in how the project is run.	[ ] Unrealistic goals.
[ ] High risk to my career.	[ ] Project too complex.
[ ] Don’t like the people on the team.	[ ] Project not politically favored.
[ ] too much project management bureaucracy.	[ ] We have a high project failure rate [on this type of project].
[ ] They kill the messenger around here.	[ ] Sponsor is not a champion; weak.
[ ] I don’t have the skills.	[ ] Customer is not committed.
	[ ] No faith in suppliers or other departments to deliver what we need.
	[ ] Poorly run meetings.
	[ ] Key issues and decisions go unresolved.
	[ ] Insufficient support systems.
	[ ] Physical environment not conducive.

From today’s newspaper on how to combat obesity in children, as recommended by Westmead’s Family & Lifestyle In Partnership (FLIP) program:-

1. Eating Breakfast most days.
2. No more than 2hrs screen time per day.
3. Eating at least one meal a day together at the table, without TV.
4. Being active outside everyday.
5. Choosing water as the main drink.

The ability to stay calm and focused in a moment of sheer crisis by the pilot and copilot of the US Airways plane crash into the Hudson River really deserves a shoutout. I am simply amazed at the skill of how these guys managed this crisis.

Released today, I was listening to the conversation between the controller and the pilot available here:-

Whilst most of the media has focused (quite rightly) on the heroics of the pilots, it is really worth listening to the air traffic controller “debugging” the situation (transcript here).

1. Offer an immediate solution:-

“OK, yeah, you need to return to Laguardia. Turn left heading of uh, 2-2-0.”

2. Communicate to others in the team quickly:-

“Tower, stop your departures. We got an emergency returning.”
“He lost thrust in both engines, he said.”

3. Start thinking of a contingency plan:-

“Cactus 1529, if we can get it to you, do you want to try to land runway 1-3?”
“All right cactus 1549. It’s going to be a left. Traffic to runway 3-1.”

And the line I like the most in this entire conversation. When all else was failing to check-in with the people closer to the crisis:-

“OK, what do you need to land?”

As it turned out this was in, software speak, a Severity 1 crisis, and there was nothing the controller, Patrick Harten, could do to help. But he certainly showed every attribute you would expect in a crisis manager, so I’ll send a shoutout to him as well…