Collin was a risk management consultant. He helped companies assess the risks they were taking. Sometimes these risks were completely unnecessary and could be eliminated. Other times the risks were unavoidable, then he would help them choose between the lesser of two evils. Occasionally, it was too late for the companies Collin consulted, in which case he would advise them on how to mitigate the damage. As Collin was fond of saying in those instances: “It’s too late to dodge the iceberg, but not too late for lifeboats.”
What made Collin’s recent assignment so tricky was that most of the oilmen in Texas thought of themselves as modern day cowboys. Most had made their fortunes gambling on the oil business and believed their courage to take such risks was a key to their success. To do his jo
