Lessons Learned from Titanic
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Lessons Learned from Titanic

111 years ago, The RMS Titanic hit an iceberg.

Hours later, the “unsinkable” ship lay at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. In the wake of this tragedy where 1,500+ people lost their lives that day, this event illuminated one of the greatest cautionary tales in history.


Here’s a little more about why Titanic sank.

#1 Cutting Corners

Titanic was built in Belfast on a tight production schedule. In the procurement process, the builder had to scramble to acquire the millions of rivets required to hold the steel plates together. In the time crunch, they ended up sourcing rivets from multiple suppliers.

Upon examining the wreckage, the researchers discovered a fatal flaw. The rivets had a high concentration of “slag,” which is a residue that can make metal split apart.

As a result, these inferior rivets were believed to have weakened the part of the hull that hit the iceberg, resulting in more significant damage upon impact. This is perhaps the ultimate reminder that when things aren’t done the right way, cutting corners and overlooking key details can indeed be fatal.

#2 Lack of Preparation – Based on Hubris

Successful travel at sea requires solid process as well as execution. Titanic showed flaws on both fronts.

Based on the design, the idea of Titanic being “unsinkable” circulated. Part of this moniker may have been influenced by what happened to Olympic, its sister ship. Olympic collided with a war ship and made it to port without a problem. This experience, in addition with the conventional wisdom that the new watertight compartment designed was flawless, produced the “unsinkable” narrative. However, technical analysis revealed that the new design introduced the possibility of water easily pouring from one compartment into another if the boat began to pitch forward. ?

Another area of hubris was the lack of emphasis on safety. Titanic did not conduct any safety drills before departure. In addition, there was a drill scheduled for the 14th while at sea, but it was replaced with a church service. This lack of preparation contributed to greater chaos when the ship began to sink. It also explains why the first lifeboats that left Titanic were not even full, as overconfidence in some guests led them to believe they were safer on the ship than in a lifeboat.

Perhaps the most glaring safety oversight was the premeditated choice to value form over function. Titanic had enough space on board for lifeboats to rescue all passengers – but the ship’s designers thought they were unnecessary and unsightly.

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#3 Ignoring the Signs – Apathy and Delay

Titanic also had several mistakes that could be termed execution errors on board the ship; crew members ignored or disregarded key information that could have prevented this disaster.

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In the days leading up to the sinking of Titanic, there was a coal fire in boiler room five caused by spontaneous combustion. Each day before going off duty, the senior engineers were require to inspect the coal bunkers and report any signs of an issue.

On the 13th, the coal bunkers were emptied out, revealing damage from the fire that had warped the bulkhead – making the boat easier to sink. Unfortunately, no major action was taken once this information came to light.

There were other execution errors regarding the threat of icebergs. Multiple warnings about icebergs were received – but were ignored. The second message from the Californian was specific, and recommended changing course; however, since the message was not formatted with an emergency prefix which required the message to relayed to the captain, the message was not communicated.

How about the iceberg itself? It was certainly bad luck that it was a moonless night and a quiet sea – but there was another problem. The lookouts had no binoculars. Why? An officer that was dismissed from the ship before departure forgot to pass over the key to the binocular box. As a result, the iceberg was spotted too late, making it extremely difficult to execute the maneuver to avoid the fatal iceberg.


In the Hollywood mania over the epic blockbuster film in the late 90s, it was easy to get swept up in the fictional romance and cutting edge effects. Researching the historical details of this actual event grounded and humbled me. ?Titanic will forever be remembered not as the glorious, unsinkable jewel of the sea, but rather, as the cautionary tale for the ages. This exercise provided me with a healthy, sobering reminder of the cost of cutting corners, excessive hubris, and apathy and delay as fatal flaws to avoid in my own endeavors.

#lessonslearned #history #legacy?

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