Coming to cinema near you soon – movie about the chaps who were so caught up in their own cleverness, they managed to engineer one of the most comprehensive corporate meltdowns ever.
Based on book by Fortune writer Bethany McLean, and Peter Elkind, the movie is titled Enron: the smartest guys in the room – which is doubly ironic given that the exploits of former company leaders Ken Lay, Jeff Skilling and Andy Fastow are currently being replayed not in the boardroom but courtroom.
McLean, who started querying the hype maintaining the share price of what was then America’s seventh largest company nine months before it filed for bankruptcy, describes Enron as the “most excavated company in the history of corporate America”. But although its collapse prompted much tougher accounting regulations, she believes there are signs the business community is forgetting some of the lessons of Enron in its pursuit of profit. Legal loopholes may have been tightened but, says McLean, “you can’t legislate ethical behaviour”.
What would Scooby do?
Guest Contributor
January 16, 2025
If you want to learn how to be a great manager, get a DOG (Doctorate in Organisational Greatness), writes Steve Scott, as he points to eight lessons every leader can
