You say you’re sorry. You say it won’t happen again. You say you’ I’ll change. But you have said it all before. I don’t doubt you mean it every time. But I don’t believe you can change. It’s not the first critical report. It’s not the first damming inspection report. It’s not first major investigation. The only surprise is that senior managers are surprised. And still they think the problems have been exaggerated, the assessment harsh and the report authors haven’t recognised the uniquely difficult circumstances. A one hundred and forty five point Action Plan hasn’t worked in the past why would it now. Before most of the action points have been achieved the world will have moved on, circumstances will have changed the action plan will be overtaken.
Why can’t the board accept this is not a few bad apples but a problem with the culture of the organisation? Why can’t the board see that this was not just an unfortunate isolated incident but an inevitable consequence of their policies and financial decisions? Why can’t the board recognise that the relationship between them and their senior managers is dysfunctional?
If the board can’t see the need for fundamental change may be the board and senior management are the problem.
