A Titanic Syndrome? Information attenuation and the incubation of crises

Dennis Fishbacher-Smith, drawing on experience as both an academic and practitioner in government, health, and resilience, explores how organizations handle crises, information, and weak signals. He argues that crises are often self-generated through managerial failures to recognize and act on early warnings, and that human factors—awareness, competence, and commitment—are central to information management. Integrating systems thinking models (notably Beer’s Viable System Model and Hollnagel’s frameworks), he emphasizes how information is often distorted, rejected, or lost through overload, selective interpretation, and organizational culture. He highlights the persistent challenges of uncertainty, risk misperception, and inter-agency communication failures, stressing that without attention to human factors and information flows, organizations will continue to incubate crises and miss opportunities for early intervention.