How to Prevent Self-Inflicted Disasters

During the last few years, a number of well-publicized “black swan” events have had immense negative effects on the companies involved.  These highly destructive calamities — including oil rig explosions, automobile recalls, major production delays, and financial meltdowns — seemingly come from out of nowhere. But when you look more closely at these crises, you often find that they were self-inflicted.  For example, an overly aggressive production schedule may have driven employees to disregard the company’s safety or risk prevention procedures.  Or decision-makers may have ignored b.....