Culture killer

I became more interested in anything involving the Titanic when I had the chance to interview Dr. Robert Ballard in person. Ballard led the mission to find the Titanic in 1986.

So, when OceanGate made the news a couple of years ago, it caught my interest. OceanGate is the company that built the Titan, a sub that ventured down to the Titanic wreckage, allowing riders to see it up close for the low, low price of $250,000. The Titan imploded in June 2023, killing the company’s CEO, Stockton Rush, and four other passengers.

Netflix recently did a documentary on the incident, and it’s shocking how avoidable the implosion was. The sub made more than 10 trips to Titanic depth, and with each trip everyone involved was raising red flags that the sub was becoming less and less safe.

To be fair, Rush isn’t here to defend himself, but, man, where there is smoke, there is fire. Interviewee after interviewee claimed the sub was not safe. But, according to those people, anyone who spoke up was told to be quiet or outright fired.

What really caught my attention, and ties into you as a business owner, was a quote from OceanGate’s former director of engineering at OceanGate, Tony Nissen.

“It’s culture that caused this to happen. It’s culture that killed the people. 100%,” he says.

If what is claimed in the documentary is true, think about what Rush could have created in a positive environment. In the alleged toxic work environment, they were still able to get to the Titanic wreckage multiple times. That’s pretty amazing. But if workers were supported and heard, they could have created something even better. More importantly, those six people could still be alive.

Is it time to do a checkup on how you are leading and what culture you are creating? If something has slipped, it could be affecting your employees or direct reports, and that’s how culture begins to wilt and die.