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What does the rise and fall of Concorde teach us about Product Management?
One rainy weekend in early spring, we visited Aerospace Bristol. A massive warehouse full of interactive aviation exhibits, large enough to let the kids run wild.
After a break for coffee and hot chocolates and a short run across the disused runway, we arrived at the ‘main event’, the building where ‘The Last Concorde’ lives.
Excitedly and full of pride, we relay to the children all the amazing facts about its history. After a while, with puzzled faces, the question arises: ‘mummy, why is it not flying anymore’?
As we explain the economic landscape which brought Concorde to its end, I couldn’t help but draw parallels with my Product Management experience. I found myself explaining how it could have gone better or how it should never have been built in the first place.
Why was Concorde built?
It’s the first question we ask ourselves as Product Managers: WHY? Why are we doing this? What real-world problem are we solving?
As far as I can tell, Concorde was built because we could. The idea was born in the ’50s, the space age when everything seemed possible. Put a man on the moon you say? Sure! In these post-war years, we were full of bold enthusiasm, spurred on by a generation who had been through two world wars, so why not — life’s short.
Whilst the US and Russia battled it out in the space race, over in Europe, we decided to crack supersonic travel. But why? To solve aviation operational efficiency? Less time in the air, less fuel consumption, right? Wrong. Concorde was renowned for many things, but fuel efficiency was not one of them. Based on a New York to Paris flight, Concorde used four times as much fuel as the 747. Meanwhile, Pan Am focused on solving this exact problem, working with Boeing to develop the first ‘jumbo jet’. They could reduce their seat cost by 30% with greater passenger capacity.
Why did Concorde fail?
Supersonic flight is a technology looking for a problem to solve, much like augmented reality (AR) glasses. There was just no reason for the general public to buy a seat on Concorde, especially at such a high price point.
