Consequences

With most of life - both personally and professionally - being lived and carried out by so many in the digital world, many may lose touch with the real world consequences of their actions. They always exist; but there's a real gap.

For me, however, although I have one foot firmly planted in the digital world, the other foot is still very much in the real world - working at a global E&C contractor building big things in the real world is kind of the whole point.

And construction is dangerous. There's no way to deny that aspect with a million and one ways to die on any given construction site. That's why safety is *the* number one focus - or at least it should be.

Unfortunately, there was a serious accident on one of our overseas projects the other day. A family had their lives changed in one single, irreversible instant.

The investigation is still on-going - and to be crystal clear I am in no way a part of or affiliated with the investigation - so everything that factored into the accident will be revealed imminently.

But from my vantage point located within the safe and comfortable confines of our corporate office in Seoul - a part of reality removed from reality, if you will - there are a few threads that are connected to this terrible accident that have been sticking out for some time.

These threads are the result of bureaucratic decisions made regarding processes that, at least in name, were put in place for safety's sake. They weren't though; they were set up as a way to consolidate decision making power within the corporate function that put the process in place. Safety wasn't first. And because of that, something bad happened.

Sometimes when a reality, whether that be a digital or corporate one, becomes too comfortable, the gap between that reality and the dirty, dangerous reality of the indifferent real world is so blinding that we forget about how out actions may impact the latter. But for everyone who has their boots on the ground in that latter reality - and everyone does, at least at some point or other - those actions and subsequent consequences are unforgettable.

So the next time do something, think about the potential existential impact that you  or the group will have.