Seeing the obvious

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Following the collapse of Thomas Cook earlier this week, the Prime Minister questioned “…whether it’s right that the directors, or whoever, the board, should pay themselves large sums when businesses can go down the tubes like that”.  It’s a very good question, but can be made more general – how can any board of directors simply carry on as normal, accepting their pay and benefits while the organisation over which they are presiding is falling apart around them, and those who depend on the organisation for jobs and services are left to suffer the consequences?

But the fact that, given all that’s happened recently, Boris Johnson of all people is the one asking the question also provides the perfect answer.  It comes down to a complete lack of self-awareness, and an inability to see from the inside what is obvious from the outside.  Those presiding over a shambles are invariably the last ones to realise it and have an almost unshakeable faith in their own innate ability to solve the problems which they themselves have caused.  Eventually, it’s the outsiders who must pull the plug, because the insiders will never do so.

I agree with Boris – but I’m not entirely sure that Boris does.