As part of our Changing Culture lecture series, we were addressed last Wednesday by the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Lord Ian Blair. Lord Blair discussed the lessons that could be drawn from his attempts to reform the culture of the Metropolitan Police, and their application to the current problems facing the banking industry.
He put forward two propositions, based upon his experience of trying to improve the performance of the Metropolitan Police, and the diversity of its intake:
Firstly, that the presiding unofficial culture of an institution is shown precisely when things go wrong, in particular, revelations that bolster an existing unease among the public about the health of that organisation.
Secondly, Lord Blair set out the five preconditions he believed needed to be invoked simultaneously in order for any regime of cultural change to be successful. He then went onto discuss how he felt the absence of some the aforementioned conditions would hamper the efforts currently being undertaken by British banks to reform their organisations.
We would like to thank Lord Blair again for a fascinating lecture.
For the full transcript of Lord Blair’s remarks, please click here.