Meltdown audiobook cover - Why Our Systems Fail and What We Can Do About It

Meltdown

Why Our Systems Fail and What We Can Do About It

Chris Clearfield & András Tilcsik

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Categories:
PsychologyScienceCorporate Culture

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Meltdown
The Danger Zone+
System Design Solutions+
Decision-Making Tools+
Warning Signals+
Organizational Culture+
Coping Strategies+

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Question 1 of 8
What two inherent features of modern systems combine to create what Charles Perrow calls the 'Danger Zone' for meltdowns?
  • A. Transparency and human error
  • B. Complexity and tight coupling
  • C. Automation and lack of diversity
  • D. High costs and rigid hierarchies
Question 2 of 8
According to the text, if a system's complexity cannot be reduced (such as climbing Mount Everest), what is the best alternative to prevent catastrophic failure?
  • A. Rely strictly on the intuition of experienced leaders
  • B. Increase the buffer or slack within the system
  • C. Implement a compulsory diversity program
  • D. Adopt a directive leadership style
Question 3 of 8
How does the SPIES (Subjective Probability Interval Estimates) tool help prevent disasters like the Fukushima nuclear accident?
  • A. It strictly limits decision-making to a set of predetermined criteria to avoid distractions.
  • B. It delegates safety responsibilities equally among all team members.
  • C. It pushes decision-makers to consider a broader range of outcomes rather than just the best and worst plausible scenarios.
  • D. It automatically increases the physical buffer between tightly coupled system components.
Question 4 of 8
What is the primary goal of the 'anomalizing' process used in the commercial airline industry?
  • A. To gather data and address the root causes of small errors before they lead to major accidents
  • B. To anonymously punish pilots who repeatedly make minor errors during routine flights
  • C. To simplify the cockpit dashboard so that warning signs are more transparent
  • D. To ensure that all flight crews are ethnically and cognitively diverse
Question 5 of 8
Why did the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) find that major airline accidents occurred more frequently when senior captains were flying instead of junior officers?
  • A. Captains were often assigned to the most difficult and dangerous routes.
  • B. Captains suffered from 'get-there-itis' more often than junior pilots.
  • C. The strict hierarchy prevented junior officers from challenging the captains' mistakes.
  • D. The planes flown by captains featured more complex and tightly coupled systems.
Question 6 of 8
Based on sociological research cited in the text, why do compulsory diversity programs often fail to produce results in organizations?
  • A. Diverse groups tend to put too much uncritical faith in each other's decisions.
  • B. Managers feel they are being policed and resist hiring diversely to assert their autonomy.
  • C. Voluntary mentoring schemes are viewed as too awkward by senior executives.
  • D. They create too much dissent, making it impossible for teams to reach a consensus.
Question 7 of 8
What is 'plan continuation bias' (also known by pilots as 'get-there-itis')?
  • A. The tendency for homogenous teams to blindly copy each other's decisions
  • B. The failure to notice warning signs because previous near-misses turned out okay
  • C. The urge to rush to finish a project or journey even when safety conditions have dangerously changed
  • D. The practice of using predetermined criteria to justify a previously made decision
Question 8 of 8
What is the main advantage of conducting a 'pre-mortem' before starting a project?
  • A. It provides a detailed review of what went wrong after a project has failed.
  • B. It uses prospective hindsight to imagine failure as a certainty, helping uncover more potential glitches.
  • C. It allows directive leaders to state their preferred solutions before the team begins brainstorming.
  • D. It establishes an iterative cycle of tasks, monitoring, and diagnosis.

Meltdown — Full Chapter Overview

Meltdown Summary & Overview

Meltdown (2018) unpacks the weaknesses shared by local and global systems. With diverse and astonishing examples, it provides empowering solutions to avoid failure. The Financial Times named it one of their best books of 2018, and the book’s message is ultimately hopeful – that the answers are easily within reach if we look for them. 

Who Should Listen to Meltdown?

  • Curious individuals seeking a new perspective on how the world works
  • Leaders and staff who want to build stronger teams and better handle or prevent crises
  • Whistleblowers, dissenters and diversity champions

About the Author: Chris Clearfield & András Tilcsik

Co-authors Chris Clearfield and András Tilcsik are world leaders in crisis prevention and bring an unusual combination of specialist skills, prestige and academic credentials to their work. Clearfield is a licensed commercial pilot who once dealt in financial forecasting as a derivatives trader, while Tilcsik has been recognized as one of the world’s top 40 business professors under 40 in his role at the University of Toronto. Between them, they’ve had articles published in respected publications like the Guardian, Forbes and Harvard Kennedy School Review and have even been approved by the United Nations for leading the best course on disaster risk management at any business school.

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