As you can imagine, we like to follow news about the Titanic. Thankfully, we have many followers who share updates with us as well. This week there was some interesting news about the Titanic’s Marconi radio. In the roughly 108 years since the sinking, explorers have not been allowed to salvage/explore/ransack the ship (more on that later). But a group is being allowed to cut open the vessel to extract the radio the ship’s communications crew used to contact passengers’ families…oh yes, and nearby ships for help as well.
The telegraph was newfangled technology to bring on board. This was the first time the White Star, the builder and operator of the Titanic, used the latest communication device. Imagine being a passenger on the maiden voyage of this engineering marvel and being able to send messages to friends and loved ones to share the experience! Not exactly Facebook posts or a tweet, but the closest thing they had to it. The telegraph operator was flooded with requests. In fact, the volume was so high that the incoming messages from nearby ships about the increasing number of dangerous icebergs went unheeded. “I’m the king of the world” took priority over “Slow down, you’re about to sink.” The incorporation of newest technology without a mitigation plan for managing incoming messages and internal communication was one of the contributing factors to the Titanic’s sinking.
Sadly, this was not the first time the White Star Line had challenges with new technologies. White Star’s first major loss occurred in 1854, over 50 years before the Titanic sailed, when its clipper ship, RMS Tayleur, ran aground on its maiden voyage to Australia. The iron in the ship’s hull apparently confounded both the compass and the crew, who believed they were sailing south through the Irish Sea. Meanwhile, they were actually headed straight west toward Ireland, where they crashed, with at least 300 lives lost. The new technology of the compass, untested in the field, combined with inadequate crew training, led to White Star’s “first Titanic.”
In both cases, the shiny new tech was adopted without appropriate training, caution, and awareness of the possible negative consequences. Note to startups, as well as existing firms: Being on the cutting edge is great and can provide benefit as an early mover in innovation. But, beware the bleeding edge - the rush to sell or adopt the new without appreciation for the unanticipated consequences - and its resultant downside.
On a separate but related issue, we ourselves are conflicted about the news. Of course, the expedition notes the historic import of the ship and the Marconi. NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, strongly opposes the allowance of the mission, out of respect to the loss of over 1,500 lives. Graverobbers, glory seekers, or scientists looking to recapture an important piece of history—“the voice of the Titanic.” It is not ours to determine if they should bring it up. But it does present a nice opportunity to share some interesting lessons from one of history’s greatest maritime disasters.
So develop the new technology. Get it in the hands of the people it can help. But don’t forget to plan how to get everyone to catch up. And make sure the new technology doesn’t eliminate something from the old that was really important. Make it easy to normalize your innovation.