Slow down to Speed Up

Posted by Anya on October 3rd, 2017

Slow down to Speed Up

K R Jayakumar CEO, Amitysoft Technologies Private Limited

Slowing down to speed up appears contradictory initially but not until we realise the truth behind.  Yes, it happens not only in life but also in technology as proven by the Pratt and Whitney’s Geared Turbo Fan (GTF) engine. The company says the planes fitted with these engines consumes 16% less fuel emitting 35% less carbon dioxide along with 75% reduction in noise, which make both economic and environmental sense.  Pratt and Whitney achieved it by making the fan inside the GTF engine rotate slower!

Running at breakneck speed in life make us less efficient. When we slow down, we get to turn our experience into lasting insights. These insights will help us to move forward better. In the current world which makes multiple demands on us, we lose contact with ourselves. Productive outcome per workday is reducing day by day accordingly sociologists in USA. If we can get out of the obsession with speed, we can catch a bigger picture of life and work to understand things better.

Engineers at Pratt and Whitney observed that the fans on the jets and the turbine in the engine are connected and move at the same speed, but the fan does not need to rotate as fast as the turbine. They introduced a gearbox that allows fan to rotate at one third the RPM of the engine’s turbine while increasing the size of the fan.  The design reduced the number of compressors and turbine blades by 1,500 and halved the number of stages. This resulted in high efficiency, smaller and quiet engine.

The world of netizens has become lazy and less efficient, due the advent of modern technology. We end up using the weaker intercostal breathing muscles in the rib cage for breaths that are incomplete but adequate for life less living. It has been observed that we use only one third of our lung capacity. According to Dr. Fred Muench, deeper and slower breathing increases oxygen saturation in cellsresulting in host of positive benefits including more energy and increased cognitive abilities. Slow breathing tends to increase heart-rate variability as observed by Dr. Muench. Heart rate fluctuation of 60 – 80 beats per minute is a healthier sign compared to 65 – 75 beats per minute. This makes our physiological system ‘anti fragile’, a better system for survival compared to ‘fragile’ and ‘rigid’ systems as defined by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, the author of ‘Anti Fragile’.

Even though first engines using GTF were made in 1972, it is as recent as 2015 when the technology became available for larger jets. It takes time and conviction to adopt and see the benefits of slowing down, when the idea is counter intuitive.

The idea of slowing down must be understood in right perspective. It should not lead to lying low and becoming lazy as often misunderstood. Periodic review of situation by taking a few steps back, inviting feedback from others and moving further in projects using newer strategies can turn around projects, otherwise doomed to fail. Amitysoft believes in the philosophy of Antifragile systems and chooses relevant products, solutions and adopts practices to deliver better to customer. To speed up let us take deep breaths and gain insights to improve the way we live and serve customers.