"I should have prepared an adequate disaster manual and raised awareness among teachers about the level of danger."
These words were part of the apology issued by Kashiba Teruyuki, principal of a Japanese elementary school that suffered the deaths of 74 students and 10 teachers during last year's tsunami. Only 34 students survived. The apology came after the release of a study about the actions of teachers and officials in the tsunami. The study was intended to anwer questions posed by the families of the deceased about the adequacy of preparedness. Although Kashiba was not at the school during the tsunami, he accepted responsibility for inadequately preparing his school for the tsunami.
The lesson here is that while those in charge of organizations may consider preparedness a distraction from daily business and a low priority, your view will change after a disaster when your staff or clients seek answers to why your response was inadequate. How will you respond when the civil grand jury or court asks why you failed to prepare? More importantly, how will you feel knowing that your inaction led to unnecessary deaths?
Kashiba Teruyuki has an answer for you: "I know I am beyond forgiveness, no matter how much I apologize."
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