Retorts

Getting Things Wrong

The item on the consequences of failure [Risk, Failure and Mercury Energy, Nov] demonstrates a common problem with many large organisations where small problems are ignored in the hope that they'll go away until eventually there is a catastrophic failure. NASA demonstrated this one in spectacular and horrific fashion with the launch of the Challenger Space Shuttle some years ago.

If you ignore those small things in the interests of false economy, they will catch up with you in the long run. Many organisations don't think about the long-term and then express surprise when they are caught with their pants down -- or their lights off as the case may be.

K.Kerr, Christchurch