Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Reuters/Getty
When OceanGate’s Titan submersible imploded on a trip to the Titanic wreckage— killing CEO Stockton Rush and four others—a lot was revealed about Rush and his company. But the biggest takeaway from the disclosures is that Rush did not take criticism well.
Perhaps this is not surprising. Rush was born into money, which itself provides a fair amount of insulation from criticism. And on top of that, he fashioned himself an “innovator” in a society that tends to laud the eye-popping self-confidence of those who pursue bold endeavors with the promise of bringing something new and exciting within humanity’s grasp.
But self-confidence can be a double-edged sword.