April 14th 1912. Titanic had set sail from Queenstown (now Cobh) in Ireland a few days before and was by now a good way into its maiden crossing of the Atlantic.
Multiple warnings has been given of ice from other ships severely impacted on the route up ahead.
Many of the warnings were ignored either passively (they don’t apply to us) or aggressively (we’re not interested, too busy doing other things).
The belief that the ship was so wonderful and hi-tech with it’s special watertight compartments and with such luxuries onboard and all the marketing to accompany it overtook some very very basic principles leading to the tragic loss of so many lives.
The story of Titanic has been a fascination for me since childhood and there are principles that we can apply today in the world of IT.
1. Never make claims unless you can back them up 100%.
2. Always be prepared. Don’t ignore backups, redundancy or the opportunities to have a plan B on hand.
3. Being careful or cautious when you KNOW there are risks ahead is not a sign of weakness.
4. Listen to people giving you advice or warnings. Take the time to make a very clear decision whether it applies to you or not. Weigh up the options and outcomes. Chances are those offering the advice have experienced whatever it is they are warning you about themselves.
5. Exhibit humility. The professional world, where arrogance and a battle to be on top/the best is a difficult environment to navigate through whilst maintaining this position, but as the saying goes, the higher you are, the further you have to fall.
