When Nothing Happens
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Bad behavior in organizations rarely gets punished on its own merits — it gets punished when results turn. Drawing on the Bies framework from Georgetown research and Diane Vaughan's 'normalization of deviance' concept, this piece examines three cases: Linda Wachner at Warnaco, Bobby Knight at Indiana, and Steve Jobs at Apple. In each case, the same behavior was tolerated for years while results were strong, then suddenly became grounds for termination once performance collapsed. The practical takeaway: leaders should identify high performers whose behavior they would act on immediately if results dropped 20%, because the gap between current tolerance and hypothetical action reveals exactly how much performance cover is being extended — and how much normalization of deviance has already occurred.
