Shrinks in the boardroom: the pathology of ignorance

Abstract

Rarely has an official Australian report been so keenly awaited across regulatory, practitioner and academic circles. Just what would the shrink in the boardroom make of contemporary practice? What stunning insights could an organisational psychologist bring to the table, albeit incorporated into a framework that comprised the usual suspects? The answer is not much but not for the reasons that have prompted such apocalyptic resentment from the big end of town. The staging for maximum impact could not be faulted. More than 2500 members and associates of the Australian Institute for Company Directors had gathered at the Sydney International Convention Centre. The chair of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, James Shipton, had turned down an invitation to help shape global discourse at the OECD’s Trust in Business forum in Paris to impart the findings of a year-long investigation into the risk management practices of Australian Stock exchange listed corporations, with particular reference to the identification by boards of directors of non-financial indicators. The content and tone of the speech was accusatory if somewhat pleading.