The problem with your analogy is that you didn't specify where the holes are located, and how do you determine the size. For example if the basketball sized hole is just a hole in the upper cabin walls, it appears large to you as it's right in front of your eyes, but because of its location it actually didn't structurally jeopardize the ship. You should focus instead on fixing the hole on the bottom of the ship that appears pingpong sized to you cause you're looking at it from a distance, but is actually the hole that's sinking your ship. Is the problem actually severe or is it only appears like that to your eyes, and whether that particular problem warrants 1st priority for resolution. The ability to analyse the issues and prioritise their resolution accordingly is what would've saved your sinking ship instead of just the size of the hole you perceived.
