In 1950, the first Kombi was manufactured in Germany. It was an engineering achievement that would eventually become known as the vehicle with the longest continuous production run in automotive history.

However, what inspired me to write this article has nothing to do with the automotive industry. It comes from something I learned while driving a Kombi back when I was still a teenager.

Anyone who has ever had the privilege of driving one of these iconic vans knows that it came from the factory with a noticeable amount of play in the steering. Keeping it perfectly straight on the road was never easy. To master that machine, you had to “dance to its rhythm.” At the very least, it made every trip memorable.

On one occasion, I drove a Kombi full of athletes from Alegrete to Uruguaiana, two cities about 150 kilometers apart, for a volleyball tournament. After the competition, we began the drive back home in the middle of the night.

The weather, however, seemed determined to put our skills to the test. We found ourselves in the middle of a severe storm, and I quickly realized that I could no longer keep the vehicle safely within the right lane. I could no longer GUARANTEE the expected outcome: getting everyone home safely.

Did I have options? Of course.

I could pull over and wait for the storm to pass…

I could drive at 10 km/h and spend 15 hours getting home…

Or I could trade the Kombi for three Porsches (although no one was selling Porsches between those two cities at that hour of the night—and even if they were, I certainly didn’t have the money or the credit to buy one).

The process was varying far beyond what I was used to. The solution I chose was to use both lanes whenever necessary, even though that decision carried its own risks. It was the only way to guarantee the objective despite the sudden steering corrections the Kombi seemed determined to make on its own.

The same thing happens in our organizations.

Sometimes we lose control of a process, and moving forward requires patience and skill—even if the path becomes far more winding than we would like.

More important than moving in a perfectly straight line is ensuring that we stay on the road, even if that means using more “lanes” than we originally planned. We must understand the natural variation within our processes.

We need PREDICTABILITY.

I once heard a successful business leader say:

“The cost of unpredictable processes is extremely high.”

If we already know that a particular process cannot remain within certain limits, we should not hesitate to revise our forecasts according to the actual capability of the process and the resources available. Doing so preserves our CREDIBILITY.

Without credibility, we have nothing.

If we fail to deliver what we promised, we lose the trust of the people who depend on us.

Only after achieving predictability can we begin improving the process to make it even more stable, reliable, and precise.

Our resources may not be enough to buy the Porsches…

Our deadlines may not allow us to slow down or wait for the storm to pass…

But we must keep moving forward in the best way possible—with creativity, adaptability, and the determination to ensure that everyone reaches the destination safely.

And whenever circumstances force us to adapt once again, we’ll remember The Kombi Effect.

In 1950, the first Kombi was manufactured in Germany. It was an engineering achievement that would eventually become known as the vehicle with the longest continuous production run in automotive history. However, what inspired me to write this article has nothing to do with the automotive industry. It comes from something I learned while driving […]