Roof Collapses and Other Useful Interruptions

The B&O Railroad Museum’s recovery from disaster—the exhibit-wrecking collapse of its roof seven years ago—shows that trauma can help an organization in the long run. Dealing with the collapse (no one was injured) made the staff more nimble, according to an Organization Science article by Marlys K. Christianson, Maria T. Farkas, Kathleen M. Sutcliffe, and Karl E. Weick. A disruption, whether positive or negative, “may create a blank sheet on which the organization can reinvent itself,” they write.