When Good Intentions Lead Us Into the Wrong Passage
What a Cave Tragedy Teaches Us About Leadership, Culture, and the CSC Playbook
In 2009, a young man named John Edward Jones entered Utah’s Nutty Putty Cave with friends and family. He believed he was sliding into a familiar passage called the “Birth Canal”—a tight but navigable squeeze that countless cavers had passed through before.
But he wasn’t in the Birth Canal.
He had unknowingly entered a similar-looking fissure nearby, a tight, unmapped space called “Ed’s Push.” At first, it looked right. It felt right. It began like the passage he intended to enter.
But it narrowed faster.
It tightened sooner.
And it left no room to turn around.
John became trapped upside down in a space barely 10 inches by 18 inches. Rescuers fought for more than 27 hours, using every tool, rope system, and angle they could. They reached him. They spoke with him. They tried everything humanly possible.
But the pressure, the angle, and the physiology of being inverted for so long created conditions they couldn’t overcome.
John never made it out.
The cave was sealed shortly after. His body remains where he became trapped.
This story is heavy.
It is sobering.
But it is also revealing—because it shows how quickly a familiar path can become fatal, and how easily we can mistake danger for something we believe we’ve navigated before.
The Organizational “Birth Canal” Problem
What happened in Nutty Putty Cave mirrors something happening every day inside companies—not with rock walls, but with workflows, culture, communication, and pressure.
Teams believe they’re moving through a familiar passage:
“We’ve always done it this way.”
“This looks like the right direction.”
“Everyone else has fit through this before.”
“We think we know where we are.”
But the reality is often very different.
What feels like a known, manageable squeeze is actually:
A tighter passage than expected
A collapse in communication
A descent into silos
A workflow that traps people
A pressure point leadership never saw coming
What looks like the Birth Canal becomes Ed’s Push—and by the time an organization realizes it, their people are already stuck.
And just like in the cave, escape becomes harder the longer someone stays inverted under pressure.
What This Has to Do With the CSC Playbook
Confined Space Coffee is more than coffee.
It’s a mission to rescue organizations from silent entrapment—the kind that leaves employees feeling:
unheard
undervalued
disconnected
exhausted
siloed
uncertain
stuck
The CSC Playbook exists for one reason:
To help teams identify narrowing passages before they become irreversible.
It gives organizations tools to:
Map their culture instead of assuming it
Identify squeeze points where communication collapses
Create oxygen—space, clarity, and structure—for their people
Build rope systems between frontline and HQ
Establish clear entry/exit protocols for workflows and decisions
Recognize early-warning signs of entrapment
Give employees a safe way to signal distress before the pressure becomes dangerous
The tragedy at Nutty Putty Cave reminds us of a truth leaders cannot ignore:
Good intentions don’t guarantee the right passage.
The map must be checked.
The communication must be clear.
The systems must keep people safe.
The CSC Playbook helps leaders do exactly that.
Leadership Takeaway
John Jones wasn’t reckless. He wasn’t careless. He wasn’t inexperienced.
He simply believed he was in the right place.
Most employees who get stuck inside their organizations feel the same way.
So the real leadership question becomes:
Do you know which passages your people are actually crawling through?
Or are you assuming they’re in the Birth Canal… when they’re really in Ed’s Push?
The gap between those two is the gap the CSC Playbook is designed to close.
If You Lead People—This Part Is for You
If you’re responsible for a team, project, division, or organization—and you sense narrowing passages or hidden pressure points—it may be time for a deeper look.
I’d love to walk you through how the CSC Playbook helps leaders:
rescue people from cultural entrapment
restore clarity and engagement
refuel teams with purpose, alignment, and structure
Let’s make sure your people always know the path, always have a lifeline, and always make it back out.