Accurate warnings are systematically discounted when the warner lacks standing or the warning is unwelcome.
Cassandra was given true prophecy and the curse that none would believe her. Institutionally the mechanism is standing rather than accuracy: the warning is discounted because of who is giving it.
In practice
- A safety engineer raises the same concern in four consecutive reports; after the incident her name appears in the inquiry as evidence the risk was known.
- A junior analyst's memo about a client's accounts is filed; the same point in a partner's memo eighteen months later is acted on within a week.
- Further reading
- Wikipedia
- Subject
- Organizations & Bureaucracy
- Essay
- The folklore of office life