Horton Heard and Boeing Did Not

When my kids were little, I read to them every chance I got. One of them still lets me read to her when she can’t sleep. She’ll be mad I wrote that. Don’t tell her. I kept the Dr. Seuss books. They sit on the shelf alongside the biographies, the strategy tomes, and the novels. The older I get, the more I realize I learned more from Dr. Seuss than from all the rest combined.

Yertle the Turtle sat on top of a pile until a burp brought him down.

Horton heard a sound no one else could hear and stopped the whole jungle to listen, because a person’s a person no matter how small.

The Zax faced each other down while the world built a highway around them.

The Sneetches fought over stars on their bellies until McBean took all their money.

The Lorax warned that Truffula trees are what everyone needs.

These were simple lessons when we were eight. They are harder for adults, especially adults inside organizations, to remember.

Engineers at Boeing warned about the 737’s flaws and were ignored. Intel saw the iPhone coming and protected margins instead of the future. Rumsfeld doubted the Afghanistan strategy within months, yet the war lasted twenty years. We defeated measles, then let misinformation bring it back. Congress knows Social Security is headed for insolvency and still stands frozen on the tracks.

Somewhere along the way, we forgot what we learned when we were eight. In each case, the signals were visible, but synthesis failed, institutions protected themselves, and incentives rewarded delay and denial over correction.

Maybe it’s time to remember.

This piece is part of a longer project. More, later.