Teachable moments

A consultancy firm that’s into safety and security in office buildings saw all that it preaches going up in smoke during a recent earth tremor that hit parts of south India on April 11. Many experts in the consultancy, who use quantitative techniques to advise their clients on security and safety for both natural or man-made disasters, lost their heads the day the tremors hit. As the first tremors struck, most of them promptly grabbed their most precious belongings, mostly laptops, and began to run down the stairs without bothering to check who was in front or behind them. “Many of them are Six Sigma,” said their frustrated CEO, referring to the stringent quality metric.