Anyone Spotting VASA Syndrome?

Last year I visited the VASA ship museum in Sweden, having never heard the story of the ship that sank on its maiden voyage in 1628 and was recovered some 400 years later. 

The world’s most high tech warship set sail on a summer day in 1628 and sank within 20 minutes in Stockholm Harbor due to engineering issues. We learned that the Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus ordered and micromanaged the building of the massive ship. 

There was apparently an overemphasis on elegance and firepower at the expense of seaworthiness and stability— massive communication issues took place while the King was away waging war in Europe. 

We also heard that the story of the VASA ship has been in management circles for years (VASA Syndrome) referring to the problems of communication and management that can cause projects to fail. 

Does this sound familiar at all? It reminds me of the frustrations often shared by business leaders. One start-up executive informed their CEO that they were shooting themselves in the foot by going live when they were not ready. The CEO’s response— “We won’t delay this.” In another company, a senior leader informed the CEO that they were forcing their specific product on the customers rather than the other way around. They offered examples of what the customers valued. The CEO responded with “Convince them what we have will work.” They are currently dissolving the company. 

As CEO’s, investors or advisors, it’s a good idea to check-in with colleagues to see if there is any chance that VASA Syndrome is alive and impacting costly decision-making...while there's still time to change course.