Simon Laffin

The Sands of Power

November 5, 2026

Power is a funny thing. When you have it, your limbs seem stronger, your jokes funnier and your thoughts more insightful. Yet when it starts

The Captain Who Ran Out of Time

October 26, 2026

Humans in the Boardroom #10 In December 1978, an experienced airline captain spent so long investigating a possible landing-gear problem that his aircraft ran out

What price ethics?

October 13, 2026

Humans in the Boardroom #9 Last week (on 8 Oct 2026), the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) slapped a severe reprimand and a fine of over

Who’s to Blame?

September 28, 2026

Humans in the Boardroom #8 The UK National Air Traffic system went down earlier this month. 2,000 flights were cancelled. The cost may well be

What do Boards See When They Look in the Mirror?

September 17, 2026

What do these three statements from company Annual Reports have in common? “…the Board and its committees were discharging their responsibilities effectively”; “Your Company continues

Humans in the Boardroom #7 The UK Government is consulting on modernising corporate reporting, including simplifying the statutory requirements for board remuneration disclosures. Remuneration reports

Artificial Intelligence or just artificial?

September 7, 2026

I bet I’m not the only person getting bored and irritated by articles that are clearly written by AI with little human intervention. This is

Why do capable boards sometimes make poor decisions?

September 3, 2026

I recently spoke to Dr Sabine Dembkowski on the Better Boards podcast about the issues raised in my upcoming book, ‘Why Companies Fail: Exposing Human Performance