Catastrophe and Systemic Change: Learning from the Grenfell Tower Fire and Other Disasters

by Gill Kernick

The Grenfell Tower tragedy was the worst residential fire in London since World War II. It killed seventy-two people in the richest borough of one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Like other catastrophic events before it and since, it has the power to bring about lasting change. But will it? The historical evidence is weighed against ‘lessons being learned’ in a meaningful or enduring way. In an attempt to understand why, despite enormous efforts, we persistently fail to learn from catastrophic events, this book uses the details of the Grenfell fire as a case study to consider why we don’t learn and what it would take to enable real systemic change. The book explores the myths, the key challenges and the conditions that inhibit learning, and it identifies opportunities to positively disrupt the status quo. It offers an accessible model for systemic change, not as a definitive solution but rather as a framework to evoke reflection, enquiry and proper debate. Catastrophe and Systemic Change is a must-read book for a wide range of readers including those interested in change management, leadership, policy-making, law, housing, construction and public safety.

Genres: Nonfiction

331 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 27, 2021

Reviews

[Hilary Sutcliffe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rather shocking and interesting book. The first half is about the astonishing catalogue of errors, ignoring concerns, corruption, incompetence, systemic disfunction and more that lead to the Grenfell Tower fire. But the second half catalogues some of the learning to help with future disasters. Really insightful, practical, useful and well written.

[Gareth Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliantly written!

Failure is complex and this (attempts) to make sense of an event which, like most catastrophic events, isn't as straight forward as it appears.

I cannot recommend this book enough!