[SystemSafety] The ethics of dealing with mistakes

[Les Chambers]

The design of the building is irrelevant to the deeper meaning of this story. My 
takeaway is the following:
When you realise after the fact that you’ve made a mistake That could have 
catastrophic consequences – in this case hundreds of crushed lifeless bodies – 
your best course of action is to fess up and offer a solution even if it could 
destroy your career in the profession that you love . Do it because there are 
worse things than a destroyed career. There are the voices in your head 
blaming you for the tragedy for the rest of your life. 

> Never mind the safety of buildings on stilts. They can never be made 
> secure against bomb attacks simply because a bomb in a large van can be 
> driven between the stilts and detonated.
> 
> I encountered this issue when I was involved, tangentially, in the 
> selection of a headquarters building for a financial institution. An ex 
> RAF-regiment security manager took one look at a photo of a building on 
> stilts, pointed out the mobile bomb risk, and struck that building off 
> the list of viable candidates ...
> 
> ... but not before describing in very colourful language the "ingenus" 
> that had proposed it in the first place.
> 
> Olwen
> 
> On 29/06/2020 23:41, Les Chambers wrote:
> > The following is an excellent presentation on what to do when you make 
> > a mistake that could have catastrophic consequences. It’s the story of 
> > Citibank centre in New York City. It could have fallen over in a storm 
> > and taken every building with it , Â domino like , all the way to 
> > Central Park.
> > I’d recommend all Nicholas Means’ presentations on YouTube. Well 
> > researched and brilliantly presented.
> >
> > See:
> > Nicholas Means – the building built on stilts
> >
> > https://youtu.be/NLXys9vgWiY
> >
> >
> > Managing Director
> > Chambers & Assoc. Pty Ltd.
> > Â www.chambers.com.au
> > www.systemsengineeringblog.com
> >
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--
Les Chambers
les at chambers.com.au
+61 (0)412 648 992