One of the most famous lines boardroom CEOs like to quote, “failure is not an option” is taken from Ed Harris’ delivery in the 1995 film Apollo 13. Some even like to wear the little grey vest. Watch the scene here.
However, according to the 21 APEC leaders failure is apparently an option, if you commit to it early enough in advance.
It does not take a trained eye to see this is all about spin and setting, or rather lowering, expectations. The thinking goes something like this ‘better to announce failure in advance, than be surprised or have to explain it later.’
As a communications strategy there is a school of thought that supports this approach and that’s okay if your talking about say the Toronto Maple Leafs where the worst possible outcome resulting from planned failure is, well, better luck next season.
But where, literally, there might not be a next season, surely world leaders can do better than succumb to defeat.
Some world leaders are still hiding behind the notion they are protecting economic self-interest while others see the task as simply too administratively daunting and impossible to overcome. Both great excuses for the status quo without entirely giving the impression of doing nothing.
John Ibbitson nails it when writing about the outcome of Copenhagen “All will be in, though no one will be able to say what “in” means.”
Had that been the attitude in 1970, the Apollo 13 crew never would have made it home. And yes, the Leafs lost to Calgary last night, 5-2.