Today marks the death anniversary of Stanislov Petrov a man who disobeyed orders and established protocol to ensure the world didn’t end in nuclear fire. As someone who has spent most of my career working for large bureaucratic institutions I use this anniversary to reflect on his courage and remind myself that building and maintaining esteem within the bureaucracy should never come at the expense of extinguishing my or others humanity.

A close-up portrait of an elderly Stanislav Petrov looking directly at the camera. He has light skin, thin grey hair, blue eyes, and a prominent mustache, with a calm, neutral expression. He is wearing a light-colored, plaid short-sleeve polo shirt. In the upper-right background, a Russian wall calendar showing the month of June (“ИЮНЬ”) hangs against textured yellow wallpaper.

Nic Babarskis @thebigbabooski