Making the Team: A Guide for Managers, Fifth Edition

Chapter 11 Leadership

Managing the Paradox

On March 11, 2011, a massive tsunami caused by an undersea earthquake struck the coastline of Japan. In the days immediately after the crippling destruction, a small self-appointed group of engineers, soldiers, and firefighters risked their own lives to prevent a total nuclear meltdown. The team discovered that the pressure in the nuclear reactor was dangerously high and feared that a hydrogen buildup would create a huge explosion. Absent any equipment, the courageous team went out into parking lots surrounding the plant and ripped batteries out of cars to revive the power in the plant. But this also meant that their only choice was to release radiation into the atmosphere, but the alternative was much ...