Think Before You Act (Oscars Best Picture Mistake)

"Ok folks, ugh..."

"Someone gave me the information. I read it"

"I opened the envelope and it said Emma Stone, La La Land"

If you don't recognize them, these three quotes correspond to the announcing of Miss Universe 2015, Trump's last week's press conference, and last night's Best Picture mix up. All three events can be considered as high stakes, with a lot of vital information that can set new trends worldwide, depending on the magnitude of their impact.

Now let's go over what happened last night at the 2017 Oscars, first, what the audience saw:

Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway took the stage, with Warren carrying the Best Picture envelope (at least that's what everyone thought he was carrying). He proceeds to open the envelope and after a few seconds, he looked a bit confused. He looked at the Faye, at the envelope again, at the audience, at the envelope again, at Faye again, then at the audience again. Most of the audience took it as he was trying to pull some sort of joke for dramatic effect. I even thjnk Faye thought that too and she kind of lost her patience, so Warren hands her the card to read, to which she immediately proclaimed "La La Land" as the winner. As the producers made their way up to the stage, Warren and Faye moved back to let them grab the microphone and throw their thank you speeches. Not long passed, until finally someone realized the mistake and acted on it.

Now let's go over what happened, with all the information I have gathered:

Two PwC partners had a set of envelopes at opposite sides of the stage. One of the partners, Brian Cullinan, was tweeting a few seconds before Warren Beatty would take the stage and after finishing his social media interaction, he handed Warren the envelope for Best Actress, instead of the Best Picture. At no point Mr. Cullinan realized he still had a Best Picture envelope with him and Warren was about to open a wrong one.

On the stage just about to announce the winner, Warren opens the envelope and he silently reads "Emma Stone - La La Land." I can only speculate what went over his mind:

• Hmmm, this says Emma Stone. Isn't she the actress?
• Wow, oh wait, did Emma Stone produce this film?
• It took me fifty years to become a producer, I didn't know Emma Stone was a producer already!
• This is probably some sort of mix-up or misprint. They must have printed Emma's name, instead of the actual producers. There must be no other explanation, this is the Best Picture winner card.
• Or is it?
• Hello? Can somebody help?
• Faye?

Faye Dunaway didn't know what to make up of Warren's hesitation with the card, and as soon as she could get a glimpse of whatever was written on the card, she didn't hesitate and with no doubt she read out loud "La La Land." Two and a half speeches in a timespan of over two minutes later, finally Jordan Horowitz -one of "La La Land"'s producers- in a very gracious and incredible gesture, took the microphone and said "guys, there's a mistake. Moonlight, you guys won best picture." Meanwhile, Jimmy Kimmel -the host- stood there like an idiot, trying to make sense of the situation in his brain.

After seeing many mix-ups -including the mentioned three-, it makes me wonder whether if we are entering an era in which making mistakes at a high-profile situation is becoming normal, and more importantly, it can be passed without any consequences, or if we have lost the sense of what has to be done for something to be done the right way.

Let's face it: had Steve Harvey read the Miss Universe card, there would have been any mix-up at all. Just like, had Trump verified by any means that his electoral vote margin wasn't the largest since Reagan.

Beatty tried to fix things before Dunaway announced the wrong winner. He possibly knew he had the wrong envelope, or at least he probably figured that something was wrong with the envelope. He paused but he didn't stop, and that's when things go bad in business. It was worse for Faye, because she didn't even pause. She just acted without thinking, looking to get the job done as quick as possible. Faye assumed everything was perfect, and in all sense, who could blame her?

The true responsibility lies with PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the accounting firm that is incharge of managing the envelopes.

So what can we conclude of all this mess:

Take in account your environment and the variables that surround you. Know your implications and eventual results of your actions. Lead, take the initiative. If you see something wrong, point it right away and don't let it slip hoping for the best.

In short, think before you act.