Tenacity as a team sport is unstoppable

"I got more thrill from flying before I had ever been in the air at all - while lying in bed thinking about how exciting it would be to fly." - Orville Wright

This morning I woke up thinking about SpaceX, seriously, it was one of the first things that popped into my mind. The 2nd successful manned space trip to deliver astronauts to the international space station occurred yesterday. This summer the world witnessed the first launch and just a few short months later we are seeing the 2nd manned space trip. When the first launch occurred this summer I remember gathering the family around the TV and watching with my girls as the SpaceX rocket took off and then later docked with the Space Station. It was an amazing site and something that made all of us feel a sense of pride.  

There were 2 thoughts that popped into my head this morning at my 4 am wake up:

1.    This is about to be normal.

2.    Imagine how much tenacity it took to make it normal.

What's ironic is I am reading a book "The Wright Brothers" by David McCullough (excellent book by the way) and the parallels are amazing. The world 117 years ago stood in amazement as man took to the sky in controlled mechanical flight, the whole world applauded the achievement and with wonder would run alongside the plane clapping and cheering as the Wrights demonstrated flight. Now if you see an airplane in the sky or taking off, it is absolutely normal. It is part of life, normal. I couldn't help but think this morning that in a couple of years it may not even be news that a rocket has delivered people to space, and I know in 117 years it absolutely will not be news, it will be normal.

This morning I Googled the failures and challenges that SpaceX has overcome and it is incredible, so many company ending type of events - rockets exploding, engine malfunctions, & angry investors to name a few. Just as the Wright Brothers and others failed at the turn of the century over a hundred years ago, the failings of SpaceX were remarkable. SpaceX not only celebrated the failures, but overcame them, and today we watch as they safely ignite a rocket with people inside, roar into space, gently dock with the Space Station, and then return the rocket landing safely on the "of course I still love you" floating drone ship. This took 14 years to get to this point where SpaceX makes it look easy.

Steve Jobs once said "If you look really closely overnight successes took a long time."  

Team, what we are undertaking is not easy, but I assure you as we continue to grind and win the fun begins. Take heart to Orville's quote, visualize the action (flying) and emotion (thrill) of what we are doing. Close your eyes, see yourself a year from now at a hospital in the Operating Room and then later walking down the hall to the ICU where there are Accuryns on every patient, protecting kidneys. Know that when you change the status quo, it is not easy, ever. Yesterday, Rich Keenan and I were at a hospital and walked the halls of every ICU and every ICU bed now has an Accuryn, every single one. Rich showed the nursing team the AccuTab and the nurses loved it. They now have 2 AccuTabs and I know that soon every bed will have an AccuTab for extra precision. Team, this is about tenacity - pushing through, remember this moment, this is the story you will tell others years from now when it is normal.

I am proud of this team and know that working together we are unstoppable.