Faced with the irrepressible Imperial Japanese Army, to which his own doom appears certain, and ordered to construct a bridge to aid enemy combatants what does Lieutenant Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness) in the 1957 film The Bridge on the River Kwai do? Build the best possible bridge he can.
Nicholson is a lover of engineering and quality standards, something sorely lacking in today’s “built so it can be thrown away and replaced” world.
Not satisfied with the quality of the first bridge Nicholson orders a second to be built downstream since to him starting a new project is better than a living with a poor quality project.
IMDB has a page with quotes from the movie, like:
One day the war will be over. And I hope that the people that use this bridge in years to come will remember how it was built and who built it – Colonel Nicholson
The film is an excellent reminder of how project managers, even in the face of adversity, should care about the quality of the final product – be it a bridge, building or business improvement.
