We rarely see what goes on inside the U.S. Government—or any large organization. And frankly, we don’t want to. We rely on millions of small rules being followed every day without oversight. Things like:

—more—

• “Use a strong password”
• “CC the accounting department on any price change email”
• “Only open the door if two guards are present”

What we do see are the big, public outcomes: policy announcements, official reports, press releases. These are the visible tips of the iceberg. We assume they’ve been reviewed with greater care than the invisible, everyday actions happening beneath the surface.

So what can we assume about the organization when those public announcements contain glaring mistakes?

• The list of countries with tariffs against them includes uninhabited islands
• The U.S. Secretary of Defense accidentally including civilians in an online chat discussing attacks on another nation

If the high-profile, visible decisions are riddled with errors, what does that say about the diligence applied to the unseen actions—especially the ones guarding our security, information, and systems?