How did the Titanic sink? Rivets.

How did the Titanic sink?

How many of you said - "because it hit an iceberg" ?

Wrong. The Titanic sank because it had bad rivets. It sank because her 'watertight' compartments didn't reach the ceiling. There was a flaw in both material and design. When the Titanic scraped against the iceberg - the faulty rivets began to burst like a zipper...allowing water into 5 compartments, simultaneously. Another shortcut that was made involved the number of lifeboats. They held themselves to the lowest standard of required lifeboats. The Titanic's decision-makers worried that too many (the appropriate amount of) lifeboats would cause a cluttered look on the ship's deck. The decision was made because the vessel was thought to be unsinkable, and thus - the aesthetic was more important.

The second question I have for ya'll is this - how many of us are prepared for an iceberg? Have we taken shortcuts? Personally or professionally. Have we made decisions that focus solely on the cosmetic/aesthetic and not on the foundation/integrity of our lives or businesses? If we run into an iceberg - will our choices and decisions be exposed? Or, have we been building, from the very beginning, with the utmost attention to detail and accountability in mind?

It is thought that if the Titanic had not changed course and thus, plowed right into the iceberg - it would have stayed afloat long enough to be rescued by nearby ships, saving hundreds of lives. The analogy is an obvious one. When met with an iceberg, an unforeseen problem... how many of us attack it head-on? How many of us try to skirt around it? How many of us keep our heads down for too long and when perspective is finally realized and recognized - it's already too late to avoid the icebergs? How many of us are intentional enough regarding our future that we're actively avoiding icebergs? There are times we must be reactive but let's also be proactive. In life there are many icebergs - will we be ready for them? Let's be ready for them.