This culture is rampant in the Public Sector too, which is even more unacceptable.
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I have a horror story from the public sector about a council that deliberately lied in court where they were the property developer , aided and abetted by Sport England .
Horrific
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Yikes - just read Nick Wallis’ website on what the Word document revealed about Mr Ward. Worth a read:
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The power of the Track Changes feature in MS Word was perhaps something Graham Ward had not anticipated. Or maybe he just… forgot.
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Jason Beer played this all out with a slow burn today, setting the scene by reading back parts of his prior testimony – and then, boom, here’s the altered Word doc, replete with ‘tracked changes’.
The reason why Sir Wyn had spent some time beforehand in advising GW of his right not to self-incriminate and take his own legal advice, then became very clear.
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I have just booked to go and see Nick Wallis live in November for his Post Office event in Otley Courthouse. It’s the first time I have seen him venture oop north for this 
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Watching some of Kay Linnell’s testimony yesterday, it reminded me, when she described her working roles.
There are, in simple terms three types of individual, where work is concerned, imho.
The first is the person who always wants to be self employed, even if that means an apprenticeship in the early stages, or they develop business ideas from the off.
The second is like Linnell, someone who learns with big organisations, but eventually take the opportunity to become a sole or small practitioner. Capable of thinking outside the box, they go with the corporate culture while maintaining a moral compass. Whistleblowers would also be in this group.
The third group, which would appear to include all execs at POL, are rigidly corporate, rarely questioning or even thinking outside the box and enjoy the security of the entity, next salary and pension. Type would never go working for themselves and likely choose not to work for a small coy.
I’ve worked for large and small businesses, the culture, mindset and even moral compass are so vastly different. IME not unusual for senior execs in large coys to be almost ignorant or oblivious to what divisions or department actual do.
Attempting to change minds a herculean task, to which Linnell alluded.
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You forgot the fourth group or perhaps he falls in to the third group - the bloke that was up second yesterday, before Kay Linnell - the first was a disgrace but the guy before Kay Linnell was an absolute disgrace another one passing the buck and provided no assistance to their members.
Thank goodness Kay Linnell restored my faith in humanity.
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We need more like Kay. Seriously.
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Absolutely - but alas we are heading in the opposite direction.
Ever increasing incompetence, lack of moral compass, broad or out of box thinking. Not to mention lack of consideration for others, courtesy or respect!
Those today, who dare to put their head above the proverbial , have largely learnt to their cost the high price to pay for being honest and realistic - reference a certain author amongst a considerable number.
Reflecting again on Linell’s testimony, if anyone hasn’t seen it - try to see her opening remarks.
Recognition and acknowledgement for all of those who have given freely of their time, in the grind to assist and support the SPMs. Just how much time that amounts to, is likely to be colossal - never to be recovered thanks to. what is increasingly looking like a deliberate POL act, likely conspiracy.
At the end of her opening remarks, Linnell says she “wouldn’t mention” the current team at POL tasked with the compensation distributions, who she suggested were no more competent than anyone previous at the organisation.
Clear case for the compensation to be outsourced - but that would be beyond the box thinking!
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I went to see him at Swindon. His guest there was Nicki Arch, who is given a chapter in his book. She described very well the torment she went through. It was quite emotional just listening to her and she rightly deserved the huge round of applause she received.
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I think its crystal clear by now, that POL just wanted to protect their famously 400 years old brand, which they claimed to be so proud of. How ironic then, that they have achieved the exact opposite - severely damaging the PO brand, perhaps beyond saving.
‘PR Driven’ is a phrase which comes up regularly. PV is reported as being very keen on this. How does it look…? Not - are we doing the right thing for our employees…?
In discussion of the POL people, there are some who are cited as having been very… forthright, perhaps pushy, domineering, in their dealings. Their Head of PR is said to be one of these. And there are others who seem to have wavered in the wind, perhaps having been promoted beyond their real capability or ability. IMO, PV seems to have been one of this group - rather weak. Which is not what is wanted in a CEO, surely…?
Did their loose their Moral Compass - or did they never have one…? Corporate Is All - Stay On Message - Protect The Brand - seems to have been their Mantra. Not uncommon, it seems.
POL simply had no regard for the Little People who worked for them - the Sub Postmasters. They were liars, cheats and thieves, one and all. It was obvious they had failed to resist the temptation to dip their greedy hands in the till and steal the cash. They were expendable. Prosecute them. Make them pay it back - or send them to prison.
And having done all this, the POL execs pocketed their bonuses for a Job Well Done.
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Excellent Ian - I whilst reading, varied between laughing and crying - the last para was when I had a third emotion, feeling s**k.
Incidentally what is a moral compass? In a corporate environment…good luck with any search.
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He’s shouting a lot and sounding angry that anyone dared to ask him why they supported Horizon.
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Its is something that managers in large organisation go on expensive course to learn about. They are told they should have one, that it is a Good Thing.
Sadly, their internet searches have been in vain. It seems none are for sale…
Silva Compass - cheaper, easy to buy - but Not The Same.
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POL execs all seem reluctant to accept any evidence to that contrary, that SPM were other than dishonest. Psychology suggests that for many many peps, once they have heard a fact, they rarely are willing to change their view. So early opinion is lasting. It is no excuse but watching this unfurl, it goes some way to explaining why, even now, POL in general struggles to accept the travesty of injustice.
At exec level, this openness should be part and parcel of serious management training and skills.
Cue laughter…I thought any exec courses were nothing more than away days from the office.
Of course having one and using it, is of course very different, but I am very sure you know that!
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Mainly being lost, somewhere - because they have no Compass at all. Or if they have one (unlikely, I admit), they are still trying to find out how to use it…
Instructions Are Overrated.
As combustible as he comes across, I would submit GT isn’t incorrect when he says his organisation had no/minimal leverage to challenge POL on Horizon matters. His body was simply a ‘federation’, not a ‘control body’ (regulator) with teeth to hold POL to account. The conflict of interest is clear to see, when your primary funding comes from POL. I’m not sure what his testimony is adding to the picture here, as other contributors have made their feelings clear on the lack of usefulness of the NFSP.
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I recall studying ethics and morals during an MBA - the unit did not last long, no more than a few lectures and I don’t recall any course work. Earlier still at school moral questions were discussed along the lines of: you’re a ship’s captain on a humanitarian posting. A port is being bombed, people, of all colours and status, are in water trying to escape. Who to assist? Of course, as were Royal Navy cadets you tried to save everyone, women and children first.
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Sadly they didn’t just fail to challenge POL, Thomson personally was a cheerleader for Horizon and still is. He seems totally incapable of understanding that a system that largely works, but has occasional errors, will impact a number of users, and in the case of this that leads to these people being taken to court and their lives ruined.
Their cheerleading allowed the Post Office to say that even the “union” was supporting their position and helped their groupthink.
This inquiry is to understand how the horrific situation occurred, the failure of the NFSP to stand up for their members is part of that, and just people pointing out the uselessness of the NFSP doesn’t allow Sir Wyn to understand how it happened.
Having now seen Thomson whose view is clearly that the system works, he can’t understand intermittent bugs, and shouts about how everything was all right he can understand just how the incompetence and stupidity led to complete failure.
What else could he have done? To paraphrase the questions and answers, “Postmasters are saying that Horizon has issues and POL Ar treating them badly.” “I asked senior people in POL and they told me it wasn’t true.” So he then loudly repeated the Post Office house story. He could have listened to the issues, found someone who was smart enough to realise what intermittent errors do (his “computer expert”) and used his organisation to put pressure on POL rather than attacking JFSA.
The inquiry barrister is gently trying to elucidate what they did and why. The fireworks will come when Stein, Page, Henry get their questions, and he might for the first time be forced to realise just how his incompetence supported the miscarriage of justice, although frankly I don’t think he’ll understand.
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