I came across a Reuters story about Henry the VIII's ship the Mary Rose while browsing Intercultural Communication and Translation News.

The idea that a ship could sink because the crew could not understand the orders that would have saved their life is quite an interesting metaphor for the world we live in. Looking back on the failures I have experienced in the companies or organisations I have worked with and for, I realize that many of them were induced or sometimes even deepened by a failure in communication.

Whether it was because the protagonists had different values, spoke different languages or came from different cultures, I realize that misundertanding has sometimes a great impact on our ability to survive a crisis. And often is it just that, something about survival.