We see from here how dangerous it is for a leader to focus even on the right goal at the wrong or premature time. It is that much more dangerous to lose focus of the right goal and focus on the wrong one as Ismay did.
The Torah also provides us with insight into the dangers and difficulties involved in being subject to particular mindsets and filters. The Torah lists (6: 6-7) the four acts that Hashem performed to free Bnei Yisrael from bondage. Rav Henoch Leibowitz, zt”l, discusses (Chidushei Lev, Shemot p.31) what aspect of freedom the third act, ga’alti (I redeemed), refers to. Basing his ideas on the Ramban and Seforno, Rav Leibowitz explains that ga’alti refers to freeing Bnei Yisrael from the mindset of slaves. Up until the point of ga’alti, which the Seforno explains occurred when the Egyptians drowned in the Red Sea, Bnei Yisrael still thought of themselves as slaves and perceived things through that filter. Needless to say, this is a very dangerous filter for free people to have – a people who in the near future would make the ultimate free person’s choice to serve G-d wholeheartedly.
From the fact that G-d had to add an entirely separate act of emancipation to redeem us from the slave mindset enlightens us to the dangers that exist when people cannot challenge the mindsets that guide them. Ismay’s mindset that the Titanic was for all intents and purposes unsinkable ended up costing 1,500 lives.
While leaders, like all people, cannot prevent mindsets from guiding their perceptions, they have the obligation to question them and ensure that whatever decisions they make are the result of careful analysis. They must assume their biases are affecting their perceptions and question their assumptions and interpretation of events. While there are no guarantees, such protocols will greatly decrease the dangers of cognitive biases and mindsets.
Ismay wanted the Titanic’s maiden voyage to be memorable. His change of goals and error-laden mindset helped make his wish come true.