Bawer’s own book, While Europe Slept, is a fascinating look at the subject. (If you don't have time to read it, be sure to read the article. It's well worth your time.)
He also has a blog.
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Bawer on Europe
Bruce Bawer, writing in The Hudson Review, examines several books on the crisis in Europe.
Bawer’s own book, While Europe Slept, is a fascinating look at the subject. (If you don't have time to read it, be sure to read the article. It's well worth your time.)
Bawer’s own book, While Europe Slept, is a fascinating look at the subject. (If you don't have time to read it, be sure to read the article. It's well worth your time.)
Nice Finishes First
Writing in The Christian Science Monitor, Marilyn Gardner notes the rise of niceness in the workplace:
Patrick Morris could call it "a tale of two companies." As a new college graduate beginning his first job in public relations at a major cosmetics firm in New York, he knew he would be the proverbial low man on the totem pole.
"You feel you're going to get put upon and crunched and tossed around," he says. But instead of the huge egos and "attitude" he expected, he found himself surrounded by good, caring people. "It made all the difference in the world and helped to shape me into the professional I am today."
By contrast, his next job at a television shopping channel proved to be "an environment full of finger-pointing and backstabbing," he says. "It became a nightmare to go into the office."
Patrick Morris could call it "a tale of two companies." As a new college graduate beginning his first job in public relations at a major cosmetics firm in New York, he knew he would be the proverbial low man on the totem pole.
"You feel you're going to get put upon and crunched and tossed around," he says. But instead of the huge egos and "attitude" he expected, he found himself surrounded by good, caring people. "It made all the difference in the world and helped to shape me into the professional I am today."
By contrast, his next job at a television shopping channel proved to be "an environment full of finger-pointing and backstabbing," he says. "It became a nightmare to go into the office."
Scalia on The Press
Justice Antonin Scalia on the press reporting of court decisions:
Scalia expressed disdain for the news media and the general reading public and suggested that together they condone inaccurate portrayals of federal judges and courts.
"The press is never going to report judicial opinions accurately," he said.
"They're just going to report, who is the plaintiff? Was that a nice little old lady? And who is the defendant? Was this, you know, some scuzzy guy? And who won? Was it the good guy that won or the bad guy? And that's all you're going to get in a press report, and you can't blame them, you can't blame them. Because nobody would read it if you went into the details of the law that the court has to resolve. So you can't judge your judges on the basis of what you read in the press."
Justice Scalia also noted, "It so happens that everything that is stupid is not unconstitutional."
[HT: Drudge Report ]
Scalia expressed disdain for the news media and the general reading public and suggested that together they condone inaccurate portrayals of federal judges and courts.
"The press is never going to report judicial opinions accurately," he said.
"They're just going to report, who is the plaintiff? Was that a nice little old lady? And who is the defendant? Was this, you know, some scuzzy guy? And who won? Was it the good guy that won or the bad guy? And that's all you're going to get in a press report, and you can't blame them, you can't blame them. Because nobody would read it if you went into the details of the law that the court has to resolve. So you can't judge your judges on the basis of what you read in the press."
Justice Scalia also noted, "It so happens that everything that is stupid is not unconstitutional."
[HT: Drudge Report ]
Ego-Free Leadership
Slow Leadership looks at ego-free leadership. An excerpt:
Here are the business qualities and behaviors Ms. Debnam gives as examples of ego-free leadership:
1. Put the business agenda ahead of your own agenda
2. Recruit the best person for the role – not just personal supporters
3. Discourage empires and cliques
4. Encourage people to challenge the status quo and question existing methods and strategies
5. Encourage leadership to flourish at all levels of the organisation
6. Respond to change initiatives according to business need vs personal need
7. Leave a legacy of ongoing excellence
This sounds very like Slow Leadership to me. All I would want to add is something like this:
8. Encourage good work and discourage cutting corners, even if it takes longer
9. Delegate everything you can (and then some)
10. Never trade off thinking time for mere busyness
11. Remember success is about creating long-term value, not snatching short-term profits
12. Enjoy life, it's the only one you have
[Execupundit note: I recall a person (but not his name!) who described his ego as curtains that kept the light from coming in. When he moved aside his ego, a new world was open to him.]
Here are the business qualities and behaviors Ms. Debnam gives as examples of ego-free leadership:
1. Put the business agenda ahead of your own agenda
2. Recruit the best person for the role – not just personal supporters
3. Discourage empires and cliques
4. Encourage people to challenge the status quo and question existing methods and strategies
5. Encourage leadership to flourish at all levels of the organisation
6. Respond to change initiatives according to business need vs personal need
7. Leave a legacy of ongoing excellence
This sounds very like Slow Leadership to me. All I would want to add is something like this:
8. Encourage good work and discourage cutting corners, even if it takes longer
9. Delegate everything you can (and then some)
10. Never trade off thinking time for mere busyness
11. Remember success is about creating long-term value, not snatching short-term profits
12. Enjoy life, it's the only one you have
[Execupundit note: I recall a person (but not his name!) who described his ego as curtains that kept the light from coming in. When he moved aside his ego, a new world was open to him.]
BBC News Admits Bias
Dog Bites Man: The BBC is biased.
Man Bites Dog: They admit it.
It was the day that a host of BBC executives and star presenters admitted what critics have been telling them for years: the BBC is dominated by trendy, Left-leaning liberals who are biased against Christianity and in favour of multiculturalism.
A leaked account of an 'impartiality summit' called by BBC chairman Michael Grade, is certain to lead to a new row about the BBC and its reporting on key issues, especially concerning Muslims and the war on terror.
It reveals that executives would let the Bible be thrown into a dustbin on a TV comedy show, but not the Koran, and that they would broadcast an interview with Osama Bin Laden if given the opportunity. Further, it discloses that the BBC's 'diversity tsar', wants Muslim women newsreaders to be allowed to wear veils when on air.
Read the entire Daily Mail article here.
[HT: Instapundit ]
Man Bites Dog: They admit it.
It was the day that a host of BBC executives and star presenters admitted what critics have been telling them for years: the BBC is dominated by trendy, Left-leaning liberals who are biased against Christianity and in favour of multiculturalism.
A leaked account of an 'impartiality summit' called by BBC chairman Michael Grade, is certain to lead to a new row about the BBC and its reporting on key issues, especially concerning Muslims and the war on terror.
It reveals that executives would let the Bible be thrown into a dustbin on a TV comedy show, but not the Koran, and that they would broadcast an interview with Osama Bin Laden if given the opportunity. Further, it discloses that the BBC's 'diversity tsar', wants Muslim women newsreaders to be allowed to wear veils when on air.
Read the entire Daily Mail article here.
[HT: Instapundit ]
1400 Years in Business and Then...
An extraordinary firm is closing its doors.
The oldest company in the world, which was founded in 578 in Japan by a group of people from the ancient Korean kingdom of Baekje, will go into liquidation in January. Kongo Gumi dates its foundation from the year when carpenter Shigemitsu Kongo built Shitennoji. Kongo had been invited to the island country by Prince Shotoku. His descendants continuously maintained the family business, and the construction firm was named the world¡¯s oldest company by the Economist monthly.
[HT: newsvine.com ]
The oldest company in the world, which was founded in 578 in Japan by a group of people from the ancient Korean kingdom of Baekje, will go into liquidation in January. Kongo Gumi dates its foundation from the year when carpenter Shigemitsu Kongo built Shitennoji. Kongo had been invited to the island country by Prince Shotoku. His descendants continuously maintained the family business, and the construction firm was named the world¡¯s oldest company by the Economist monthly.
[HT: newsvine.com ]
The Fact - Idea Struggle
Joseph Epstein, one of the best essayists out there, on the relationship between facts and ideas:
The point (I don't say it is a fact or an idea) is that the more facts one has at one's command, the less is inspiration for ideas likely to arrive. Imagine the impressive ignorance of facts Rousseau required to come up with his two most famous ideas, those of the Noble Savage and of the Social Contract. Marx had Engels in Manchester supplying him with many of his facts for "Das Kapital," but given all the additional factual knowledge we have since acquired about industrial relations and the true interests of the working classes, it seems doubtful that even the always rage-ready Marx would be able to believe in the class struggle with the same certitude. Or, presented with the wretches of Enron, price-rigging, industrial spying and other corporate malfeasance, would Adam Smith still wish to argue on behalf of his Invisible Hand?
The most fertile ground for the formation of ideas, in other words, is one relatively barren of facts. As facts add up, ideas tend to go down. Facts, bloody damn facts, get in the way of conjecture, speculation, delightful mental footwork of all kinds. Facts, we say with a shrug, are facts.
The point (I don't say it is a fact or an idea) is that the more facts one has at one's command, the less is inspiration for ideas likely to arrive. Imagine the impressive ignorance of facts Rousseau required to come up with his two most famous ideas, those of the Noble Savage and of the Social Contract. Marx had Engels in Manchester supplying him with many of his facts for "Das Kapital," but given all the additional factual knowledge we have since acquired about industrial relations and the true interests of the working classes, it seems doubtful that even the always rage-ready Marx would be able to believe in the class struggle with the same certitude. Or, presented with the wretches of Enron, price-rigging, industrial spying and other corporate malfeasance, would Adam Smith still wish to argue on behalf of his Invisible Hand?
The most fertile ground for the formation of ideas, in other words, is one relatively barren of facts. As facts add up, ideas tend to go down. Facts, bloody damn facts, get in the way of conjecture, speculation, delightful mental footwork of all kinds. Facts, we say with a shrug, are facts.
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Ten Reasons Why Managers Give Inflated, Inaccurate, Performance Evaluations
- They failed to talk to the employee about the performance problem or misconduct when it first occurred and are reluctant to bring it up months later.
- They believe the employee's poor performance will reflect poorly on them.
- They are afraid of confrontation.
- They are afraid of the employee.
- The performance evaluation system won't permit merit increases to be given to employees who receive a rating that is less than Meets Standards and the manager wants the employee to get a merit increase.
- They feel they could have done more to help the employee.
- They think a low evaluation will demoralize the employee and result in even worse performance. [See reasons 3 and 4.]
- The employee has miraculously improved performance two weeks before the rating is due ("The dead come to life!") and the manager feels that the employee has permanently rebounded. [This belief is almost always unjustified.]
- They are in a hurry and don't believe that they have sufficient time to give the employee's performance problems the thorough discussion they deserve. [See reasons 3 and 4.]
- They believe that upper management will not back them if they give an honest evaluation.
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