Titanic Decisions
“The decisions you make are a choice of values that reflect your life in every way.” – Alice Waters
Despite the fact that there were 2,224 people aboard the RMS Titanic, there were 20 lifeboats, with a capacity of 1,178.
Despite the fact that the maximum capacity of the ship was 3,327, there were 20 lifeboats, with a capacity of 1,178.
But why would the designers of the ship overlook the life saving capacity of 2,149 people?
The commonly held answer is that Titanic leadership felt the boats would “clutter” the deck, and prevent many in ‘first class’ from having a full ocean view.
This is one of the earliest and most dramatic examples of placing profits before people.
“Management” on the Titanic had no regard for literally thousands of human lives, because it did not serve their own interests. Or better said, because it could impeded their own personal gain.
Sound like any groups you know? Perhaps 535 ‘servants’ sitting on a hill in Northern Virginia?
Can you imagine what it was like to work on this ship? If ‘leaders’ thought this way, and made decisions this way, what must the culture have been? How concerned were supervisors with working conditions?
And in turn, how must the crew have felt about others on the ship? Do you think they all had the mindset to serve? Um…I doubt it.
And while the analogy came to me in a business context, it also made me think about my own decision making.
It made me think about how you can often observe the decisions that leaders make, whether leading a company or group or family, and get a pretty good idea of the culture that is being instilled in that company or group or family. And by understanding the culture, you can anticipate the trajectory.
More importantly, it made me think about my own personal decisions…and how they determine the culture that I build and instill in myself. And thus my own trajectory.
The decisions don’t have to be as monumental as the life or death of over 2000 people. I think they can be much more mundane and inconsequential, but go just as deep..perhaps deeper.
I think even the small decisions can be great indicators of culture and trajectory.
Perhaps the small decisions, since they require less analysis and are more reactionary or ‘instinctual’, are even more indicative of our own self governance. And in turn, more indicative of the culture we’re instilling in those we lead.
I claim that I want this to be a transformative year. But do my own day-to-day decisions reflect this?
Am I making decisions that would indicate a clear and concise direction, culture and trajectory for those who I lead, and for me personally? And aren’t those really one and the same.
Well the answer sure better be a resounding YES…because I’ve started to burn some of my lifeboats, and there are plenty of icebergs waiting for me.
