MARK BARNES: Three, two, one … SA needs a blast-off to move into the future
Business and political leaders and civil society must be prepared to fire up the engines and outpace the past's clawing gravity
Escape velocity is the minimum speed a free body needs to escape the force of gravity a larger body exerts on it. A rocket needs sufficient thrust to escape the gravitational influence of Earth, get into orbit and then go, with marginal new impulse, and explore the boundaries and opportunities of outer space. If the rocket launches with speed less than the escape velocity required, it will fall back to earth, overcome by the force of gravity, and crash. The logic in this rule of celestial mechanics can be applied analogously to many circumstances we find in our everyday personal and business lives. If a business cannot attain economic escape velocity, it will fail. The financiers (or voters, if you like) of new, or turnaround, or however otherwise future-uncertain ventures (or lives) need to be convinced that, at some point, the entity they are funding or supporting will achieve independent financial sustainability. Where potential funders (voters) have choice, the outcome is expect...
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