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All mistakes are not the same, and there are ones that ought to end a career. When the captain of a Navy ship has an accidental collision, his career is over. A

All mistakes are not the same, and there are ones that ought to end a career. When the captain of a Navy ship has an accidental collision, his career is over. A sufficiently bad news article can wreck the lives of multiple innocent people, and kill public trust in the newspaper and the author. In this way, a bad editor or writer can do more damage in one decision than they can make up for in the entire rest their career. I don't have an opinion on this case in particular, but there are cases where no amount of apologizing is enough. Becoming a copy writer for the rest of one's career does not strike me as a particularly cruel and unusual punishment.

coldtea 9y ago
>When the captain of a Navy ship has an accidental collision, his career is over. Is that always true? I'm not so sure. And even if it is true, perhaps it should not be so. All kinds of professionals have accidents or errors and continue to work. There's this apocryphal story that makes some sense. Tom Watson Jr., CEO of IBM between 1956 and 1971, was a key figure in the information revolution. (...) A young executive had made some bad decisions that cost the company several million dollars. He was summoned to Watson’s office, fully expecting to be dismissed. As he entered the office, the young executive said, “I suppose after that set of mistakes you will want to fire me.” Watson was said to have replied, “Not at all, young man, we have just spent a couple of million dollars educating you.”
- barkingcat 9y ago
  Easy to find examples: http://www.skynews.com.au/news/top-stories/2017/08/23/remains-found-after-us-destroyer-collision.html http://www.skynews.com.au/news/top-stories/2017/08/23/remain... Start at the top and start firing. "Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin, who headed America's Asia-based 7th Fleet, has been relieved of his duties following the damage to the USS John S McCain." https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/17/world/asia/fitzgerald-collision-investigation.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/17/world/asia/fitzgerald-col... Next up is the commander of the ship and the senior officers. Being relieved of duties doesn't mean firing though. Could be that they become paper pushers. The next step would be court martial. But yes, there are career ending mistakes. Especially when they cause the death of 7 people and takes a 9000 ton, $1.5 billion ship out of commission. The Arleigh Burke class also forms a good chunk of an aircraft carrier group's defensive perimeter, so by taking out these ships, these mistakes (whether one mistake or many mistake doesn't matter) puts approximately $30 Billion worth of military assets (not to mention the 5000+ people) at risk. How's that for a career ender?
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saiya-jin 9y ago
Doctors kill patients, despite their best intents. It might be exhaustion after 14 hours of constant stress, it might be negligence, or simply lack of necessary data to make a better decision in tiny time window available to save somebody with cardiac arrest. Often its caused indirectly and there is more than 1 person to blame. If we fired and imprisoned every doctor with this experience(s), hospitals would be empty and people would be dying from easily preventable causes. There are almost no doctors that are doing clinical medicine for long enough that don't have this 'mark' on their soul. Got a solution for that from your high horse? I am talking about deaths happening daily in every hospital around the world. Sorry you were saying what?

coldtea 9y ago

>When the captain of a Navy ship has an accidental collision, his career is over. Is that always true? I'm not so sure. And even if it is true, perhaps it should not be so. All kinds of professionals have accidents or errors and continue to work. There's this apocryphal story that makes some sense. Tom Watson Jr., CEO of IBM between 1956 and 1971, was a key figure in the information revolution. (...) A young executive had made some bad decisions that cost the company several million dollars. He was summoned to Watson’s office, fully expecting to be dismissed. As he entered the office, the young executive said, “I suppose after that set of mistakes you will want to fire me.” Watson was said to have replied, “Not at all, young man, we have just spent a couple of million dollars educating you.”

barkingcat 9y ago
Easy to find examples: http://www.skynews.com.au/news/top-stories/2017/08/23/remains-found-after-us-destroyer-collision.html http://www.skynews.com.au/news/top-stories/2017/08/23/remain... Start at the top and start firing. "Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin, who headed America's Asia-based 7th Fleet, has been relieved of his duties following the damage to the USS John S McCain." https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/17/world/asia/fitzgerald-collision-investigation.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/17/world/asia/fitzgerald-col... Next up is the commander of the ship and the senior officers. Being relieved of duties doesn't mean firing though. Could be that they become paper pushers. The next step would be court martial. But yes, there are career ending mistakes. Especially when they cause the death of 7 people and takes a 9000 ton, $1.5 billion ship out of commission. The Arleigh Burke class also forms a good chunk of an aircraft carrier group's defensive perimeter, so by taking out these ships, these mistakes (whether one mistake or many mistake doesn't matter) puts approximately $30 Billion worth of military assets (not to mention the 5000+ people) at risk. How's that for a career ender?
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saiya-jin 9y ago

Doctors kill patients, despite their best intents. It might be exhaustion after 14 hours of constant stress, it might be negligence, or simply lack of necessary data to make a better decision in tiny time window available to save somebody with cardiac arrest. Often its caused indirectly and there is more than 1 person to blame. If we fired and imprisoned every doctor with this experience(s), hospitals would be empty and people would be dying from easily preventable causes. There are almost no doctors that are doing clinical medicine for long enough that don't have this 'mark' on their soul. Got a solution for that from your high horse? I am talking about deaths happening daily in every hospital around the world. Sorry you were saying what?