NEWS FLASH
The Institute Sponsors the Race for the Cure
Medical-Legal Consulting Institute, Inc. invites you to join us in supporting the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Breast cancer has touched my family and my staff's families. I know it has touched many of you, too. To support the work of the foundation, the Institute serves as a Silver Sponsor of the Houston 2002 Race for the Cure®. Our staff, friends and families will help raise money by participating in the walk on Saturday, October 12, 2002.
Help us in our mission to eradicate breast cancer as a life-threatening disease and the leading cause of death among women between the ages of 40 and 59. If you wish to make a contribution, the Institute will match every dollar you donate. Make your check payable to Komen Houston Race for the Cure® and mail it to us at Medical-Legal Consulting Institute, Inc., PMB 632, 2476 Bolsover Street, Houston, Texas 77005. We'll add our matching contribution to yours and forward the total to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
Supporting the Cure,
Vickie L. Milazzo, RN, MSN, JD
FROM THE EDITOR
11 Business Lessons from the Titanic
by Vickie L. Milazzo, RN, MSN, JD
My husband Tom and I recently visited an exhibition of Titanic artifacts at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Combining technology, history and storytelling to wondrous effect, this exhibit far surpassed my expectations. As we looked, listened and learned, I couldn't help but think that those tragic events of 90 years ago hold timeless and valuable business lessons for us today. Come with me and I'll show you.
Your Business is a Treasure
You enter the Titanic exhibit through a dimly lit room and walk past a large model of the ship as it sits today, rusting on the bottom of the North Atlantic surrounded by treasures that have come to rest on the bed of the ocean. Here on the museum floor sit two rows of dishes half buried in sand — the wooden crate they were stored in long eaten away by the ocean. Over there is a crushed light fixture from the ceiling of a stateroom and here sits a ceramic sink, all recovered from the debris field surrounding the great ship. A hidden speaker system plays submarine sounds, adding to the chilling undersea effect and setting the mood for the exhibit to come.
Business Lesson #1 — Someday your business may be an artifact. However, you want it to be remembered as a success story — not
as a study in loss and tragedy. Even if a business fails, it isn't gone forever. Something good can come from the treasures revealed by the crisis. One failure may teach amazing lessons and lead to a new and different success.
You Bear the Captain's Burden of Trust
In the next exhibit room you see photographs of the passengers and crew. The black and white photos show stern looking men and women, sweet, well-dressed children, proud sailors and crew members. None had any idea of the tragedy ahead of them. They believed the ship was unsinkable and trusted in the White Star Line and their captain. In fact, the captain's reputation was so strong that several of the passengers refused to sail with anyone else, booking
passage only on ships under his command.
Business Lesson #2 — Outstanding leadership and knowledge will give you a ship full of loyal, trusting attorney-clients. One mistake or bad decision can sink your ship. If your ship goes down, your attorney-clients, employees and family may be affected as much as you, if not more.
Technology Doesn't Guarantee Success
Next you see a large photo of the room where the Titanic was designed, along with shots of the ship under construction. It took 3˝ years to build this engineering marvel, the largest ship of its day. Revolutionary advances in ship and engine design were developed to make the Titanic unsinkable.
Business Lesson #3 — You can create a modern, state-of-the-art business enterprise. You can plan for every contingency, but you can't plan for surprises. Technology can't solve every problem.
Glitz and Glamour Are Only Skin Deep
The exhibit recreates the level of comfort first-class passengers enjoyed:
Full size staterooms, the largest, most comfortable rooms ever built on a ship, complete with running water and electric lights, a rarity in 1912.
A Parisian café, along with gourmet menus and manifests showing the diverse array of fresh and exotic foodstuffs stocked on board.
The grand wooden staircase with ballroom music playing in the background and a rescued cherub bearing witness to the ship's former glory.
In 2002 dollars, a first-class ticket would have cost as much as $78,000. The passengers truly sailed in luxury never before seen on a ship, yet, the Titanic was rushed into service and not all its systems and services had been tested.
Business Lesson #4 — An outsider may think your business looks solid and even glamourous. As the captain of your ship, only you know where your weaknesses lie. As long as you can identify those weaknesses, you can prepare for them and still maintain the glitz and glamour.
Stay on the Lookout for Icebergs
In the next starkly lit room, you step out onto the deck and feel the chill of the night air. A 30-foot-long mountain of ice dominates your view. The recovered ship's bell hanging nearby rings suddenly, loud and clear, and you hear a lookout shout, "Iceberg!" In the rush to prepare the ship for sailing neither lookout could find his binoculars, a fatal error.
Business Lesson #5 — No matter how many times you cruise the seas — even while tending to your attorney-clients' every need — you must always be on the lookout. Don't get lost in the details of running the business or creating the glitz and glitter. You can easily lose sight of what's ahead and forget to watch where you are going or what icebergs may await you.
You Don't Have to Hit the Iceberg Head-On
The Titanic's collision with the iceberg wasn't head-on. Instead the berg glanced along the side, tearing a gash no wider than 3 inches in six watertight compartments. The ship was designed to float with as many as four of these compartments flooded. But six flooded almost simultaneously, dooming the ship. With a harder collision, even a head-on blow, or a crash tearing one large hole across two compartments, the ship would have survived.
Business Lesson #6 — A major disaster can occur in a way you least expect. Even a small amount of damage can have catastrophic effects. You may plan for a major catastrophe, but the cumulative effect of smaller injuries can sink your business as surely as a giant iceberg.
There Are Icebergs Everywhere
The Titanic sailed for only 2 days before striking the iceberg. After 3˝ years in design and construction, it took less than 3˝ hours for the ship to go down.
Business Lesson #7 — No matter how long you spend building your business, it can dissolve or sink overnight. Icebergs are plentiful.
Have Your Lifeboat Ready at All Times
In the next room you are sobered by the personalization of this tragedy with the lists of names, photographs and artifacts from the survivors. Some lifeboats were launched nearly empty. Some were over full. There were far too few lifeboat seats for the number of passengers and crew. People who fell into the ocean lived less than 10 minutes due to the extreme cold. At least one lifeboat tipped over, saving only those lucky enough and strong enough to climb out of the freezing water and cling to the capsized boat.
Business Lesson #8 — You must always have enough lifeboats and be prepared with an alternative if you run out. Today's lifeboats are self-righting — but you still need to be strong enough to climb out of the water. In business terms, this means you need not only a viable emergency or contingency plan but also the ability to survive for the duration of the emergency.
You should have enough money to cover 3-6 months without income.
You need the flexibility to take time off while you adjust to any change in circumstances, setting aside work and family obligations while you revamp your marketing materials and business plan as needed.
Rescue Your Best Attorney-Clients First
In most cases men chivalrously stood aside as women and children were put into the boats. The highest percentage of survivors were from the first-class section. Proportionately fewer second-and third-class passengers survived. Passenger class was determined by the cost of the ticket, and hence by the passenger's wealth. (Incidentally, two rich passengers traveled in third class to hide their wealth, and both were lost.)
Business Lesson #9 — Take care of your best attorney-clients first, but don't forget your occasional attorney-client. Your best clients are the ones you'll need in order to recover after a disaster has passed. A show of loyalty here can take you far. Your attorney-clients are willing to make sacrifices — so long as they can survive, too.
Icebergs Lead to Improvements
The sinking of the Titanic triggered a congressional inquiry (even back in 1912). A lot of fingers were pointed, and the rules of shipbuilding were changed forever. None of this helped those who went down with the ship although future passengers enjoyed a higher level of safety.
Business Lesson #10 — Rules can and will be changed after mistakes are made from hitting icebergs. If you're not out there making mistakes, you're not making any progress. Each mistake is a learning opportunity that will make your business better.
It's Okay to Hit Icebergs
The last business lesson is the most dramatic of all. The Titanic wouldn't have sunk if it hadn't sailed. If you never leave the dock, you'll never hit an iceberg — but you'll also miss the thrills of the voyage.
Business Lesson #11 — You have to sail before you can fail. If you hit an iceberg while you're working, at least you'll have the
chance to keep your business afloat. If you never leave the dock, you'll never have a business to keep afloat.
Too many legal nurse consulting businesses sink on the drafting board because they never get built. The owners spend more time getting ready than they do marketing. One CLNC® kept her business in the planning stages for 4 months because she wasn't happy with the company name she had selected — and she finally went with the original name she had chosen. She might have missed a lot of icebergs in 4 months, but she also didn't win any attorney-clients. As hockey legend Wayne Gretzky once said, "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."
No business is unsinkable — but there are steps you can take to watch out for icebergs. Personally, I'd much rather try and fail than never try at all. I've made my share of mistakes and in 1990 I hit my own large iceberg. My business didn't sink and I stayed afloat, and thankfully I had the necessary lifeboats in place. The iceberg knocked me off course and led me on a journey that would change my business and the nursing profession forever. In fact, if I had missed the iceberg, I probably would have kept going in my original direction. Then you wouldn't be reading this LNC Ezine, and thousands of RNs who are now successful CLNC®s would instead be battling healthcare facility icebergs daily.
Full steam ahead, lookouts to the crow's-nest!
Vickie L. Milazzo, RN, MSN, JD
