What was the real reason for the failure of South Canterbury Finance? Was it really the fall in coal prices that sank Solid Energy? Why did Pumpkin Patch collapse? Why do over 2000 small businesses go into liquidation every year in New Zealand? Why did David Ross defraud over $100 million from Kiwis' life savings in the failure of Ross Asset Management? Why did the leaders of these businesses make decisions that ultimately saw the demise of the business they led? Why do we all make decisions that we know are not likely to be good for us, whether in business or in life?

To take a journey through the failures of kiwi business requires a journey through all our irrational minds. While failures were caused by factors such as excessive debt, no cash, external forces, weak governance, failure to pay taxes and more, all can be linked back to the decisions people did or didn't make.