One issue that greatly disturbs me is hearing new through to very experienced managers speak of ‘inheriting’ a range of issues when they took up their roles. The inheritances typically, are majors, not minors, like numbers of poor performing staff, seriously dysfunctional teams, chronic under funding or a near complete lack of operating policies or systems. Typically too, managers found the issues were never discussed at interview but were uncovered within a short time as they went about their role. And the worst thing is, is that the inherited issues were well known within the organisation. They had been problems for many years, yet they had been left completely or partially tinkered with but not satisfactorily resolved. I feel for managers who inherit issues that reflect years of systematic management failure. I’m always concerned for organisations who don’t realise the impact of leaving major issues unresolved. Burying one’s head in the sand doesn’t sort the inheritances rather, bringing them to light, seeing them for what they are and providing managers with the right support and resources to do what’s needed, is the only way to go. So why don’t more organisations do this?