> "Why worry about something that isn’t going to happen?”

Lots to break down in this article other than this initial quotation, but I find a lot of parallels in failing software projects, this attitude, and my recent hyper-fixation (seems to spark up again every few years), the sinking of the Titanic.

It was a combination of failures like this. Why was the captain going full speed ahead into a known ice field? Well, the boat can't sink and there (may have been) organizational pressure to arrive at a certain time in new york (aka, imaginary deadline must be met). Why wasn't there enough life jackets and boats for crew and passengers? Well, the boat can't sink anyway, why worry about something that isn't going to happen? Why train crew on how to deploy the life rafts and emergency procedures properly? Same reason. Why didn't the SS Californian rescue the ship? Well, the 3rd party Titanic telegraph operators had immense pressure to send telegrams to NY, and the chatter about the ice field got on their nerves and they mostly ignored it (misaligned priorities). If even a little caution and forward thinking was used, the death toll would have been drastically lower if not nearly nonexistent. It took 2 hours to sink, which is plenty of time to evacuate a boat of that size.

Same with software projects - they often fail over a period of multiple years and if you go back and look at how they went wrong, there often are numerous points and decisions made that could have reversed course, yet, often the opposite happens - management digs in even more. Project timelines are optimistic to the point of delusion and don't build in failure/setbacks into schedules or roadmaps at all. I've had to rescue one of these projects several years ago and it took a toll on me I'm pretty sure I carry to this day, I'm wildly cynical of "project management" as it relates to IT/devops.

> and my recent hyper-fixation (seems to spark up again every few years), the sinking of the Titanic.

But the rest of your comment reveals nothing novel other than anyone would find after watching James Cameron's movie multiple times.

I suggest you go to the original inquiries (congressional in the US, Board of trade in the UK). There is a wealth of subtle lessons there.

Hint: Look at the Admiralty Manual of Seamanship that was current at that time and their recommendations when faced with an iceberg.

Hint: Look at the Board of Trade (UK) experiments with the turning behaviour of the sister ship. In particular of interest is the engine layout of the Titanic and the attempt by the crew, inexperienced with the ship, to avoid the iceberg. This was critical to the outcome.

Hint: Look at the behaviour of Captain Rostron. Lots of lessons there.