Making invisible patterns , visible

Recently finished a fascinating book on the murder of our 20th President - James Garfield and how it was not the assassins bullet that actually killed him - but the mistakes (preventable) in his medical treatment by the "reputed" doctors at the time. It is a fascinating tale and I would highly recommend the book: Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard. A tale of madness, medicine and the murder of the president. There are a number of patterns in this tale : Vanity of key decision makers, Insanity and Delusions of the assassin ( A depressingly  recurring pattern in US history of the killing or attempted killing of presidents) , fear and distrust of new technology and methods - when faced with a crisis. The last pattern is the one I am interested in - as it is a common one occurring in management and decision making. The question is : How best to avoid the types of mistakes that the doctors made- that  turned out to be ultimately fatal to the president. I essence t

Just came back from a trip to India. Visited Jaipur and Agra. Saw the Taj Mahal for the first time- and it is a gorgeous piece of work. Should be on everyone's bucket list. An example of beautiful things men are capable of creating - and that too on a grand scale. When you visit the Qutb Minar - you also see excellence and superb attention to detail in construction. And yet - these places are surrounded by squalor. It is as if  the people (and municipalities) are blind to the beauty amidst them. In Jaipur - the pink city - with its superb examples of architectural beauty .. one would think the local developers (and populace) would be inspired and would start a design renaissance .but no!  A plethora of  truly ugly buildings abound. More ugly buildings being built all the time. And these are people with money - who could afford better looking designs. You see structures with totally non functional, unfinished beams  jutting out like broken bones disfiguring a body. One almost won