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Comment by Sniffnoy | Hacker News Reader

The lesson I draw is a bit different. Sure, they might have failed to think of that -- but they didn't personally have to think of it, as long as someone else did and warned them. But, even though they got professionals to assess the risk, they then completely ignored that assessment. Well -- we all know how that story ends...

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It's probably a mistake to assume that everyone down the line will look at some promo/ad/etc. with fresh eyes and ask "Do we really want to do this?"

People assume that someone else has vetted the basic concept, get focused on the mechanics, etc. and focus on the how rather than the should.

ADDED: There are plenty of ads that make you ask: "How did this get through?" and it's the same basic idea. Having worked for large companies I totally understand.

It was warned by professionals: "When Hoover ran this plan by risk management professionals, the company was warned that it would be an absolute disaster."

I don't know how formal this warning was though. To me this is a key part of the story that should've had more detail.

Lots of people will question this stuff, but they definitely won't bring up their objections. People are incentivized to collect their paychecks and do what they're told, not to point out the absurd thinking of the managers and executives above them. Nobody is thinking they'll save their company those millions and get an recognition/reward for it. Even the professional risk assessors got ignored.

I'm not really that cynical. But a lot of people do have their jobs to do, may even appreciate that they may not be aware of all the context fo some given decision, and just aren't inclined to fight battles over things that aren't their department at the end of the day.

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