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How Small Problems Snowball Into Big Disasters

How Small Problems Snowball Into Big Disasters

We live in a world run by complicated systems. And the failure to understand those systems can have pretty dire consequences.

Innovation Hub

September 28, 201815m 36s

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Show Notes

The Three Mile Island disaster forced hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate their homes. It absolutely dominated the news cycle. It led to a complete rethinking of nuclear energy. And it all stemmed from a plumbing problem, a valve that didn’t shut. 

But the Three Mile Island accident isn’t the only meltdown caused by a seemingly small issue that snowballed into a gigantic disaster. To find out exactly how this happens, we talked with Chris Clearfield, co-author of “Meltdown: Why Our Systems Fail and What We Can Do About It.”