Three Lessons in Planning We Can Learn From the Fukushima Disaster

The Huffington Post has just released an article that indicates poor planning and lack of accountability may have played a significant role in the degree of destruction experienced at the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant. What can each of us learn from this disaster in relation to our own lives and careers?

1) You Can’t Navigate Today’s Problems Using Yesterday’s Maps. Japanese nuclear regulators trusted that the reactors at Fukushima were safe based on a single-page memo that was written nearly ten years earlier and had not been revised or reviewed since. As outrageous as we may find this, many of us are taking the same laissez faire approach to our personal and professional lives. When was the last time you actually sat down and took an unflinching look at your current situation? Are you where you want to be? What might have seemed like the right direction a few years ago may no longer be adequate now. Is it time to plan a new route or change your destination?  Times change, people change, and resources change. Make sure that you are navigating your current situation using the most up-to-date information.

2) Assume nothing. The devil is in the details. The company that owned the Fukushima plant told Japanese officials that the plant was safe, and the officials took their word for it. They didn’t ask for validation, clarification or specifics. We may shake our head at the Japanese government’s naiveté, but we can easily fall into the same sort of thinking in our own lives. How many times have you trusted an “expert” rather than your gut? There is something to be said for considering the expertise of others, but even experts make mistakes and have agendas. If your reputation, health or personal welfare is at stake, then verify, verify, verify. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather look suspicious than foolish.

3) Hope for the Best, but Plan for the Worst. To assume that something might not happen, because it has never happened before, is reasonable. To assume that something will not happen, because it has never happened before, is careless. The officials at the Fukushima plant planned for an earthquake that would not exceed a magnitude of 8.6, but the March 2011 earthquake was a magnitude 9.0 – four times larger than they had planned for. The nuclear plant was designed to withstand tsunami waves of 18.7 feet, but the actual tsunami waves reached 46 feet.  Prior to the March earthquake, planning and building for such a catastrophic event would have looked excessive and wasteful. In hindsight, it would have been prudent and responsible. While the consequence of overly-optimistic planning in our personal and professional lives is unlikely to be equal to that of a nuclear meltdown, the lesson remains. As Denis Waitley says, “Hope for the best, plan for the worst, and prepare to be surprised.” After all, it wasn’t raining when Noah built the Ark.