In 2000 the information technology company EDS ran a television ad called “Airplane.” A construction crew builds an airplane while it flies. One worker says: “Some people like to climb mountains. I like to build planes. In the air.” The text on the screen reads: “In a sense this is what we do. We build your digital business even while you’re up and running.”
The agency Fallon made the ad. The phrase “building the plane while flying it” is now a common business cliché for work that starts before the plan is finished.