organization Examples Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers During the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in 2008, considerable information about the bank's management was revealed, including the way Richard S. Fuld, Jr., the former CEO, organised the bank. The bank had started to concentrate more and more on excessively risky mortgages; however, neither the employees nor the public were aware of the bank's financial situation. Fuld, together with other managers, had kept a significant amount of essential information secret, as well as lying to the investors and to all other involved parties. Everybody else had thought that Lehman Brothers were involved with a variety of investments, including both safe and risky investments; in reality, though, they had been working with a much more risky portfolio than was appropriate. After the bank became bankrupt, Fuld refused to take the blame for any of these events, even though he was responsible for the concealment of the information. Sinking of the Titanic Mushroom management can also occur during the handling of one-off, individual situations. When the RMS Titanic hit an iceberg, only a few members of the crew were aware that the ship was going to sink. Most of the crewmen were not informed about the seriousness of the situation by the captain, which resulted in chaos and disorganisation. The captain attempted to act on his own, without incorporating the officers into his decisions. Countermeasures Managers should learn how to distribute information and how to communicate with the people they are responsible for. The best way to avoid mushroom management is transparency. Good mushroom management Sometimes, mushroom management can be very helpful if it is handled carefully. This method involves the company's employees being divided into various groups, each of which has all the information which it specifically needs but nothing more, similar to a need to know approach taken in the military to control access to sensitive material. Meanwhile, the manager is in charge of giving each group the required information. This kind of management is extremely difficult, though, and requires considerable skill. See also Carrot and stick Kiss up kick down Employee silence References Neologisms Management Metaphors