It would seem a lot easier to fix something that is just starting to crack...than to repair a system so weak that it is on life support or in the bankruptcy courts. But the opposite is often the case. Though it seems that problems can be easier to solve when the losing streak is not so long and the cycle of decline not too advanced there also can be more resistance to the idea of significant change when the situation is not dire. The truly sick are desperate for any solution and too helpless to resist. It is more permissible and a great deal easier at extremes of distress (though less humane) to slash, burn, destroy, cut, lay off, and start over again. Under extreme distress, extreme distress can be taken; the truly obese get their jaws wired shut to prevent uncontrolled food intake, while the merely overweight must struggle through diets.

---from Confidence: Why Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End by Rosabeth Moss Kanter, pp. 160-161, emphasis mine