The Gul Plaza tragedy is first and foremost a human loss, one that cannot be reduced to analysis, frameworks, or commentary. Our hearts go out to the victims of this tragedy.

At the same time, such incidents force reflection. Not the official or judicial inquiry type reflection – those are required and must happen to address the public sentiment.

But for me, the Gul Plaza fire offers difficult but necessary lessons in management and the risks created by unquestioned assumptions inside workplaces.

For years, the building functioned. Shops opened daily. Lights turned on. Hundreds of people came and went. These visible signs became the answer everyone relied on: if work continued, the building must be safe.

This is how complacency takes root in organisations. When systems appear to work, questioning stops. Fire safety becomes procedural rather than real. Emergency exits are assumed to exist. Alarms are assumed to function. Accountability is assumed to belong to someone else.

But efficiency without inquiry creates blind spots.

When was the last fire drill? Are exits usable? Who is responsible for building maintenance? The moment basic questions such as these disappear, risks begin to accumulate gradually.

Workplace culture often reinforces this silence. Those who ask questions are seen as inconvenient. Curiosity slows momentum and challenges authority, so compliance is rewarded instead. Over time, certainty replaces vigilance.

The Gul Plaza fire reminds us that disasters are rarely sudden. They are assembled over years of unchecked assumptions. Buildings do not become unsafe overnight; they become unsafe when no one insists on knowing.

This is not only about fire safety. It is about organisational intelligence. Intelligent workplaces are not defined by confident answers, but by the discipline to keep asking uncomfortable questions, especially when everything appears to be working.

Because when questioning stops, danger does not disappear. It simply waits.

And the most dangerous sentence in any workplace is not “we didn’t know”, but “we never asked”!

Worth thinking about 🤔