This week marks the anniversary of the Battle of Isandlwana, a lesser-known and slightly embarrassing event in the UK's history. As British soldiers were attacked by the Zulus in their camp in 1879, officers sent numerous messages to their commanders just a few miles away pleading for help — only to be ignored until it was too late.

The result was one of the British army’s most humiliating defeats. Sometimes it is too easy for the high command to ignore the warning signs on the ground, and there is reason to think a similar phenomenon is taking place in finance right now.