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The Key to a Tragedy
Jul
According to
This
is London, one tiny key may have sunk the Titanic. This little sliver of brass
would have unlocked a cabinet that held a pair of binoculars. The ship's lookout later
explained in a congressional inquiry that had this device available, it would have been
enough to get out of the way.
Struck by an iceberg. 1,522 souls lost for want of a key.
The scale of the Titanic disaster was compounded by dozens of horrific failures in engineering hubris, logistical planning, and aggressive business practices. The ship was raced at top speed across the Atlantic in attempt to garner publicity by arriving a day early, directly through known ice fields. Many of the needed lifeboats were removed from the final design because they made the deck appear "too crowded". Most of these craft were barely half full when they reached the water, due to poor emergency planning procedures. Worst of all, the Titanic was brazenly advertised as "unsinkable". There is no greater tragedy than lives lost in precisely the manner people are told is impossible.
The recent emergence of the story of Second Officer David Blair and the key to the binocular case demonstrates one of the fundamental problems in a completely top-down organization. The layers of management and delegation at White Star line were effective in determining the necessity of binoculars for the crow's nest, but they also found it crucial to protect them in a locked box. Only those with official authority would be able to access the binoculars, ensuring their proper treatment and safety.
Business models which obsessively focus on creating and following orders from the top rather than including all levels in the decision making process fall victim to such mistakes. Everyone who needs access to the binoculars should have a key to the box; or possibly, why have a lock at all? Too many companies guard resources and information so closely that they aren't able to be used in critical times by the people who need them. We can't let ships sink for want of a single little key.
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