I put that question to Mike Useem, an expert on such things at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

He's trained scores of top executives. And actually Neel Kashkari (the man now in charge of the Treasury's $700 billion bailout) took his class years ago. This last week, Useem's class was a bunch of journalists, including me.

I talked to him after in his office, where you will find a book about the Challenger space shuttle disaster sitting on the bookshelf.

Listen as Useem explains what went wrong. And why the solution could involve Winston Churchill.

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