Written by 
From the “This Shouldn’t Happen To Anyone” department: Earlier this year a Swiss national by the name of Behar Merlaku was visiting a small casino in the small Austrian town of Bregenz. There is no data on whether or not the 26 year old Merlaku is a serious gambler, but I am sure that surprise and delight will not begin to describe his feelings when the slot machine he was playing began ringing and flashing, announcing that he had won $57 million dollars!
However, when Merlaku tried to collect his winnings, he was denied. The casino made apologies, and offered the equivalent of $100 and a free meal, but Merlaku was understandably less than satisfied. There had been a software glitch, the casino operators went on to explained, the pay-off required that five slots be matched, and Merlaku had only matched four. The glitch occurred when the machine evidentially announced the unauthorized payoff.
Not surprisingly, there will be legal action regarding the incident this month in the Austrian courts, and the proceedings will be watched very closely by the gaming industry the world over. It is fair to assume that the casino in Bregenz will be facing hard times. The nature of the casino industry is built on trust; gamblers understand that the odds will always favor the house, but if it is discovered that the house has fixed the game or refuses to pay-off when the odds do fall on the side of the customer, the reputation is destroyed. Just as a casino will not extend credit to a customer with a bad credit rating, gamblers will not patronize a casino with a crooked reputation.
The gaming industry is built on risk, but what about your business? Are there failures or glitches out there that can ruin your reputation and means to do business? You probably carry insurance to cover the more obvious potential hazards; it is the hazards that aren’t obvious that can be a killer. A software glitch in something as seemingly simple as archiving email can feed disaster.
There is no way to completely avoid disaster. Of course it is prudent to take every practical precaution, but there is no way to cover them all, even if you knew what they were. It will be the reaction of you and your business if disaster strikes that will have the most lasting impact, even more than the disaster itself. Will your business be one that folds in the face of a major setback? Or will it be one that sees not a disaster but an opportunity for learning and growth. Perhaps there is no building like rebuilding, but I sincerely hope that it will be a situation that you and your business never have to face.
