The French trains are in the news. Two-thousand new trains turned out to be too wide for train stations. About one-thousand and three-hundred railway platforms out of the total of eight-thousand and seven-hundred will have to be trimmed at the cost of some fifty-million euros. The train operator, Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer, and network owner, Réseau Ferré de France, were separated seventeen years ago. The blunder will make SNCF and RFF work better together in the future, and a new law is being prepared to ensure it, but now they have hard time explaining it. It simply boggles the mind, for it is too stupid by half. But it is a godsend, as well. It provides a welcome example of human stupidity, for it could have happened anywhere in the world. And it should never be forgotten or neglected. Whenever any big and complex project is contemplated, human stupidity should be taken into account. Examples like the French one should be cited in defense of this embellishment of project management. For future generations, let us call it the human stupidity factor. Or HSF, for short. But it is also good to remember that it will keep boggling the mind for ever and ever.

Addendum I (February 25, 2017)

Whenever I have a chance, I mention the French blunder in friendly conversation. One-thousand and three-hundred railway platforms had to be widened to accommodate new trains across France. Wow! To my amazement, though, no-one I talk to is aware of the mind-boggling blunder that took place only a few years ago. The story is as good as forgotten by now, or so it seems. What is worse, the human stupidity factor does not seem to impress anyone I talk to, either. As a consequence, chances are that big and complex projects will be spared from HSF concerns in the years to come. Stupidity, what stupidity? For my sins, I cannot but relish the next blunder that is just behind the corner. There will be plenty of them in the years to come, I am pretty sure. And the bigger and more complex the projects, the bigger and more mindboggling will the blunders be, as well. Hey, this strikes me as the first law of human stupidity applied to all sorts of projects. I leave all the other laws of this ilk to my former colleagues in project management. All big and complex projects perforce involve construction, my former field of academic concern. What is more, so-called megaprojects are in the focus of the burgeoning field as of late.

Addendum II (February 12, 2023)

Well, well. The Spanish trains are in the news right now. Huge amounts of money have been spent on trains that cannot pass through the country’s tunnels. Once again, the Spanish blunder is discussed as though it has to do with so many managers in so many companies or institutions. The hoopla is involving an ever-larger number of humans, but the basic cause of the calamity is beyond everyone involved. Predictably, the French blunder nine years ago is not even mentioned. Neither is the human stupidity factor or HSF. Which only shows that my prediction so many years ago will go unheeded. The bigger and more complex the projects, that is, the bigger and more mindboggling the expected blunders, that is. Another Bon’s law, as I like to put it. As for HSF, it is likely to be pushed under the rug as long as this crumbling civilization will keep churning forth. It is beyond my fellow humans, to be sure. Their own stupidity will remain a secret to themselves for untold centuries and millennia. And there is next to nothing that can be done about it. The best one can do is to wait for another blunder of this sort and laugh with relish. Indeed, laughter is the only cure for all the stupidities humans are engaged in at this juncture. Heartfelt laughter, too.