Using some startling examples of organisational catastrophes, Oliver demonstrated the devastating effects of siloed cultures and ineffective management. Organisations are typically failing to process and act on negative messages and learn from them. Organisational failure is increasingly prevalent across all sectors, but frank, comprehensive dissections of those failures are still woefully infrequent.  Success is too easily celebrated and failures are too quickly forgotten; short term earnings and publicity concerns block us from confronting – much less, learning from – our stumbles and our blunders. 

In his presentation Oliver questioned ways in which leadership can build more robust organisations in such challenging times.  Some of his suggested responses under these three headings were:

• Culture: play to strengths, cultivate humility, never reinforce failure, disturb the ‘perfect place’.
• Communication: Integrative thinking and behaviour.
• Imagination: Routinise the exercise of imagination, watch trends and developments, allow for creative abrasion.

In the course of the presentation, Oliver referred to three rigorous investigations of organisational calamities.  All of these events shared the common threads of lack of imagination, siloed culture and poor communication and their reports make for quite compelling cautionary tales:

1. The 9/11 Commission Report (2004) – US Government’s startling underestimation of the Al Qaeda threat was described as: “the most important failure” on the part of leaders. The report became a business best seller as a careful analysis of a flawed organization.
2. The Columbia Accident Investigation Report (2003) – The report of the doomed space shuttle mission, which exploded on re-entry with the loss of its 7 crew members, cited its ‘can-do’ culture as a large contributor.
3. The Siegal Committee Report (2003) – The rise of reporter Jayson Blair – despite well-documented examples of his fabrication and plagiarism - created a publishing scandal for the New York Times.