Despite there being over 40 million flights per year, it’s rare for an airplane to crash or fall out of the sky. A main reason for this is this is that the airline industry is focused on preventative maintenance.

There is an understanding that the costs associated with being reactive is likely to be catastrophic, both in terms of loss of life and money. Therefore, planes and parts are routinely inspected and replaced before they go bad.

This concept of preventative maintenance and being proactive is something we teach our account managers here at Acceleration Partners. Instead of just waiting for a client to bring up an issue or comment on a trend, we encourage them to proactively address it before the client does.

It’s understood that waiting until the client brings it up is too late. The cost of inaction is always more expensive than addressing a problem proactively, whether that’s a financial cost or damage to the relationship or reputation.

With hurricanes Harvey and Irma dominating the news and compelling millions to evacuate, this topic of preventative maintenance comes squarely into focus. While there are heated debates about the causes of such devastating storms, its undeniable that the world is warming and the seas are rising. Yet, the increased likelihood of more catastrophic natural disasters is often ignored or overlooked, despite repeated warnings from experts.

A perfect example is the White House making a statement on Wednesday that, “This is not the time to talk about climate change.” Then when is?

It’s almost impossible to get state or federal governments to act on preventative measures. Politics, budgets and special interests all come into play; debates happen yet nothing gets done. Sadly, no one gets elected or becomes a hero by protecting us from the future. The glory is gained from the firefighting.

Then, a disaster like Irma or Harvey strikes. Suddenly everyone bands together. Budgets open up and unlimited funds are made available to clean up the mess. Heated discussions over the debt ceiling subside. This nonsensical cycle of focusing on the problem after it occurs—at an extraordinary expense—simply continues.

Contrast this approach with how the Dutch have managed to keep Amsterdam, a city that sits several feet below sea level, from flooding year after year. As this well written article outlines, the Dutch have developed a world-class flood prevention model with the goal to be able to survive a 4,000-year storm. They’ve also done an incredible job of getting everyone on the same page about the cost of inaction.

In other words, they are maintaining the planes before there is a crash.

This all circles back to the concept of Urgent versus Important. If we don’t take care of the important, we will be forced to deal with the urgent. Shouldn’t it be most important to protect against the realities of global climate change and rising sea levels?

Our inability to act in a preventative way keeps forcing us to deal with urgent situations and devastating consequences. It leaves us all hoping and praying that the worst-case scenarios don’t come true.

Today, we are in desperate need of leaders who can make decisions proactively around important issues as opposed to just reacting with urgency.

I never thought I would say this, but we need to learn from the airline industry.