We’ve all been there: the catastrophic event. A few months ago a distressed client crept into our London offices late on a Friday afternoon. “He’s gone”, he whispered to us, panicking. “The CTO has stormed off with the passwords and a demand for money but we’re supposed to be launching on Monday. What shall I do? I’m ruined.” Well, he wasn’t. One long weekend later, and with our help he had the ultimate reward. He cooly launched as if nothing had ever happened. Not everyone reacts like Dilbert, after all.

Houston, we really DO have a problem.

The popular quote is in fact erroneous. But in reality, there was a problem: the phrase was uttered by astronaut Jack Swigert during the failed Apollo 13 mission, just after observing a warning light accompanied by an explosion, at 21:08 of April 13, 1970. A concentrated, thoughtful sequence of actions followed. The mission was saved.