Toxic

Exposes the anatomy of organizational harm and how to save institutions from toxic culture

While we often read about corporate scandals, we are left wondering: why do organizations keep causing harm?​​​​​​​

Benjamin van Rooij and Nicholas Lord argue that to truly understand and address the impacts of dysfunctional organizations we must look beyond the senior executives and/or leaders and understand the deeper problems in the organization itself. To do so, Toxic uses dozens of in-depth case studies to connect the dots between various scandals and illustrate the deeper toxic patterns within organizations that lead to them.

Each chapter recounts compelling stories of individuals caught within these toxic systems and addresses urgent societal challenges such as environmental degradation, the opioid epidemic, the harms of social media, and police abuse. Stories include: Boeing focusing so much on its day-to-day share price that it lost sight of ensuring the long-term safety of its 737 MAX airplanes.Volkswagen experimenting with monkeys locked in cages breathing exhaust fumes in a desperate attempt to deny the harm of its “clean diesel” engines.How the Oakland Police Department taught its rookies to engage in racist and abusive policing practices, resisting decades-long attempts to reform the department. Revealing, accessible, and engaging, Toxic, breaks down the core characteristics of toxic organizations and shows readers how to recognize and address toxicity in their everyday lives.