Much of the world was surprised to see the images in the media of the cruise ship Costa Concordia sinking off the coast of Italy. I know I was in that group. I was especially surprised to have been personally on a cruise ship and understood the escape drills and procedures on today’s high-tech cruise ships. What surprised me even more was the disregard for these procedures and the apparent pattern of poor decisions made by the ship’s captain and crew. This experience is a good case study showing what can go wrong, but also what can go right, when disaster strikes. It has a wonderful applicability to the business world.

Many questions remain unanswered and some may never really be answered, even after extensive research. What we do know is that the ship hit a rock around 9:45 pm. A few minutes after the impact, the engine room manager warned the captain that the hull had an irreparable break of 70 meters (230 feet). Within 15 minutes of impact, passengers on board were calling local police on the ground, who in turn contacted the Italian coast guard at 10:03 pm. Video of a passenger recorded at 10:20 pm showed panicked passengers in life jackets being told by a crew member that “everything is under control” and that they should return to their cabins. Port authorities were not alerted to the collision until 10:42 pm, almost an hour after the impact. Some passengers jumped into the water to swim to shore, while others, ready to evacuate the ship, were delayed by crew members for up to 45 minutes as they resisted immediately lowering the lifeboats. At 10:58 pm the evacuation alarm sounded on board to abandon ship. Captain Schettino left the ship at 11:30 pm. At 01:04 am, an Air Force officer was lowered on board by helicopter and reported that there were still 100 people on board. The last of the passengers was evacuated around 01:30 am. This disaster led to the evacuation of more than 4,000 with at least 17 confirmed dead, another 64 injured and 16 people still missing.

It is easy to guess the decisions, or lack of decisions, made by Captain Schettino and the officers and crew of the other ship. Hindsight is always clearer to an outside observer away from the chaos of the moment. The ships have computer-programmed routes and alarms, both visual and audible, if a ship deviates for any reason from the established route, stored in the computer and controlled by GPS. These alarms can be “manually” overridden by the crew. In the case of the Costa Concordia, the ship deviated from its plotted course and the computer navigation system was turned off. What is easy to guess is the override of the controls established to protect the crew and passengers.

What went well was the reaction of many of the passengers. I was taught a long time ago in leadership training that “When you see it, say it!” That is exactly what the passengers who called the local authorities did. Police were notified of a problem with the ship before the crew contacted authorities. Those passengers knew something was wrong and had the courage to say something, even when the crew insisted that there was no problem. Imagine how long the evacuation would have taken if those passengers said nothing to implicate the coast guard.

So how does this relate to the business world? Well, just like cruise ships, companies have policies and procedures that act as controls to protect organizations, employees, and customers. Following those policies and procedures is an important part of everyone’s job. Sometimes management chooses to override or ignore controls, and when that happens, people need to speak up. Remember: “When you see it, say it!” Use established management procedures to raise concerns or use the ethics and compliance hotlines available. If you find yourself on a sinking ship, say something.