Okey Dokey

NOTE: The below originally appeared as the editorial in our August 7th One Minute Week newsletter. To find out more, and sign up for free, please click here.

“It is not good, it is not bad. It’s OK.”

In an age where people have binary opinions – things are either really brilliant or truly terrible – it is refreshing to hear an answer with no hype. Frederico Curado, president and CEO of Embraer was replying to a question about how he saw the business jet market.

Curado and Textron’s Scott Donnelly, both talked about lower demand in Europe and South America, but a stronger US market.

This is not where any of the forecasts in the nine years since the start of the credit crunch expected the market to be. But it is not too bad. It is OK.

One former CEO of a business jet manufacturer has an observation based on what he calls a lengthy experience, a few scars and a myriad of trashed forecasts. He adds: “Conclusion: The business is there; you just have to keep your head down and work harder to get it.”