If you’re not sure where this phrase originated from here is a brief synopsis.
And if you didn’t read the above link you know the phrase from any movie that featured a newspaper where information so cataclysmic that it required a full-stop on what was being done. Everyone… EVERYONE… stopped what they were doing and looked up to see who had yelled it out and what new information justified it.
But here we are, in a 24 hours news cycle where the presses never stop for anyone – we never stop or fix what we are doing because there is always a different story that can be added in, in its place.
There is that much news in the world.
But shipping software? Delivering code for your team? When no one knows what they are doing and everyone is running around their room with like a bunch of chickens? When is everyone jumping from fire to fire not knowing what is behind Door #3 (or #1 or #2 for that reason)?
That’s when the onus is on you to make the call – Stop the Presses.
It’s not about stopping the ship that you are on, it’s about putting the right one out.
