Too long ago I spent about a year at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, continuing my university studies. Shortly after arriving, the person who was in charge of campus security gave us a talk in which he congratulated us on the fact that Atlanta was no longer the most dangerous city in the USA, but the second most dangerous (we are talking about 1999). He also warned, with emphasis on the younger ones, to be careful with the illusions of immortality typical of teenagers, to avoid unnecessary risks and to adopt certain safety measures.

I have a feeling that this kind of illusion applies quite adequately to many companies. In general, the thinking that still prevails in many organizations is the familiar one: it can’t happen to us. The equivalent is the one who gets in the car thinking that accidents happen to everyone but him and ignores seat belts and any “reasonable” speed limit.