With the benefit of hindsight, we would act differently

Stories of organisational failings are appearing more often in the media. Transgressive behaviour — sexual or otherwise — creates fear and insecurity at work. What stands out is the tendency to attribute these cases to a few bad actors. But is that the full story, or are we confronting a systemic failure?

Dependence

The cases I have seen share a clear pattern: a degree of dependency between the person experiencing the behaviour and the person exhibiting it. I avoid labels such as “victim” and “perpetrator” because they can be stigmatising and obscure possible organisational drivers.

Unwanted behaviour is never excusable. Yet there may be more at play.

Safety

Organisations invest in policies and reporting routes to create safe workplaces. Still, much behaviour goes unreported. Despite greater attention to workplace safety, organisations often fail to deliver the level of safety that matters in practice. Why?

Hierarchy

The answer starts with power. Providing formal safety is not the same as actually making people feel safe. Managers and leaders frequently underestimate how power imbalances deter reporting. Raising a concern can make someone feel vulnerable, ostracised or at risk of losing their job or income. Faced with those stakes, many choose silence. The risk that boundary-crossing behaviour will be tolerated is therefore ever-present.

A different approach

So why do organisations claim, after each scandal, that they would do things differently “with the knowledge we have now”? Hierarchies are not new and neither is the risk of abuse. Nor will everyone necessarily have the resilience to speak up.

Look deeper

What if we dared to ask different questions: what drives the conduct? Could it be less about ambition or ego and more about powerlessness, fear of failure, scarcity or a need to be seen because people lack emotional tools to cope?

That is work we can start today. We do not need new knowledge — we already know this. What we often lack is the courage to act. From my experience, asking the right questions with the right intent can unlock powerful insights even in a first conversation.