The technical development at the National Library of Finland was at crossroads in 2006. We asked Paavo Olmi, at the time the Director of the Division of Platform Planning at the library, what was done to resolve this situation.
Mr. Olmi, how did you approach this issue?
"Well, it was obvious to me that we had a major problem to solve. I addressed my subordinates by giving them a lecture at the Fabiania Auditorium of the library - I think it lasted for about two hours. I made it very clear to them that what we had been working on was really "a burning platform", and we would need to come up with a new solution pretty fast if we were planning to survive. At the end of this rousing speech I introduced a totally new, bold concept for a revisioned service, which was to be called Doria. My recollection is that the applause and cheers lasted for about fifteen minutes after I had concluded my talk."
Using "burning platform" as a metaphor sounds somewhat familiar...
"Yeah, I mentioned the idea to an American friend of mine and he may have used it someplace else. But that's fine by me, I believe in free exchange of great management ideas.
Doria was the name of my grandmother, who was always appreciative of fresh ideas and ready for new adventures. Somebody else pointed out that the name had a connection to the ship Andrea Doria, which was of course an excellent reference for our approach as well.
After that, all we needed to do was get to work. I have fond memories of this period, during which we were blessed with some of the greatest leadership in the long history of the library."