Protocol… And Planning

Camera: Leica M9
Exposure: 1 sec.
Aperture: f/1.5
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: 800

It was explained to me once, that most disasters (plane crashes, ship sinkings, company failures, etc…) are rarely the result of a single point of failure or bad decisions in organizations that are well run where protocols are in place. Rather, they are the result of cascading failures where a series of poor decisions have created a vulnerability that through happenstance or neglect, eventually reveals itself.

Most well run institutions can weather even truly bad situations if they have protocols in place and they are continually planning 1, 2, and 5 steps down the road.

I think about this with respect to academic departments, quite a bit.

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