Shine Yes. Substance No.

There's an old tongue-in-cheek Navy saying: "Work it may, but shine it must."

That's doctrine in some workplaces. A few examples:

• "The briefing was based on poor research and the objective was a joke but Ferguson scored a lot of points with his presentation."
• "Be sure to use these buzzwords. The boss loves them."
• "Our guest speaker's topic is 'Management Lessons from the Animal World.' By the end of the presentation you'll know whether you're a tiger, a wolf, or an eagle." [Have you ever noticed that "Dodo" or an equivalent label is never given?]
• "Mary and Ed are the top contenders for the promotion. They just look the part."
• "Every person on his team has an MBA. Pretty impressive, huh?"