Dubbed the “Heist of the century”, the Antwerp diamond heist is one of the largest robberies in history. A bunch of thieves robbed diamonds worth $100 million through a series of hacks that took them a couple of years to master.

The place is described as a fortress, equipped with state-of-the-art sensors and systems. A combination of motion, magnetic, and thermal sensors coupled with the 3-foot thick vault. (see pic)

A fair question that pops up in our head:

How the vault was even robbed?

But back in 2001, it was not a “how” question. When the theft was being planned, the person who hired the lead man for this job, asked a simple question:

Could the Vault in the Antwerp Diamond Center be robbed?

It was a “yes” or “no” question that took 6-months to answer. Such is the world of organized crime.

Just to contrast, in the law-abiding world that we operate in, “Yes” comes at a light speed. Every problem is attacked mercilessly. Where is the finesse? Where is the subtlety?

The bigger the problem, the less nuanced the approach. Some brave men and women jump at the scene without any due diligence. And why shouldn’t they? after all, patience is not a virtue, and action bias is a value proudly put on the walls in bold letters.

If “How the problem can be solved” comes before “Could/Should the problem be solved” then our approach is already flawed.

Image souce: Wired.comcom