Prison Break! Part Two

Well, it appears the season for spectacular prison escapes more or less coincides with the Major League Baseball season. That makes perfect sense. Baseball, after all, has been called "the  national pastime," and nothing passes time like prison. 

Plus, baseball is a game in which long stretches of relatively little action can suddenly be broken by some really extraordinary even. It's the same way with prison. Nothing, nothing, and then BOOM!

First there was the escape from the Clinton penitentiary in upstate New York. That was a well-executed job that ran into trouble when the getaway car failed to show up. Good, but no cigar. 

Now we have the escape from a Mexican "supermax" slammer by Shorty Guzman, heap big drug lord and billionaire certified by Forbes magazine. Besides their entertainment value, what important business principles can we learn from these two escapes?

First, the Clinton escape seems like the work of inspired entrepreneurs -- but amateurs compared to the corporate power of Shorty's job. David Sweat and Richard Matt were "under-capitalized" in human resources, tools and machinery, and definitely with regard to money. 

They had to make-do with what they had, and they made the most of it. But what they had was nothing compared to what Shorty had. To help in the escape, for instance, they had to enlist the lady who worked in the prison tailor shop. A very nice lady no doubt, but not a pro, and finally unreliable. Shorty, on the other hand, could hire the best.  

With regard the actual escape procedure, the Clinton boys had to cut their way into a narrow pipe, crawl 400 yards, and then access the street through a manhole. But Shorty had an electrically-lit, fully-ventilated mile-long tunnel big enough for him to stand in (though, admittedly, he's not called Shorty for nothing) which even included some sort of motorcycle on railroad tracks! It's the difference between the Home Brew Computer Club circa 1980 and Apple Computer, the most well-capitalized company in the world. 

I actually think Shorty's tunnel under the prison may have been constructed long ago, just in case he was ever incarcerated there. Because success means planning for every eventuality. 

Finally, when Shorty powered out of that tunnel on the motorcycle, there was no doubt in the world that his ride would be waiting for him. We can be certain of that. Just like in Apollo 13, failure was not an option. "Right this way, Senor Guzman!"