A new blog on classic adventure fiction. Having read a lot of Thomas Costain novels in my childhood, this may nudge me back into that realm.
[HT: Instapundit]
Thursday, September 02, 2010
They Were So Nice I'll Sue
Michael P. Maslanka reports on what can happen when an employer tries to do something nice:
The majority opinion sketches out the key facts. An employee is a welder, working out in the summer heat. She becomes pregnant. Her employer moves her to work in the tool room because her managers think it will be a safer environment for her. It’s the same pay and same hours. It is cooler and less arduous of a job because she has a small fan and does not need to wear all the protective gear she needs as a welder. So what's her beef? In something that sounds like an episode of "Oprah," the majority, in partially reversing the trial court's grant of summary judgment to the employer, finds that "Spees appears to have felt unchallenged by her tool-room position, testifying that she found it to be ‘more boring’ than welding." It looks like the nebulous idea of job fulfillment is now in play in determining the existence of an “adverse” employment action.
The majority opinion sketches out the key facts. An employee is a welder, working out in the summer heat. She becomes pregnant. Her employer moves her to work in the tool room because her managers think it will be a safer environment for her. It’s the same pay and same hours. It is cooler and less arduous of a job because she has a small fan and does not need to wear all the protective gear she needs as a welder. So what's her beef? In something that sounds like an episode of "Oprah," the majority, in partially reversing the trial court's grant of summary judgment to the employer, finds that "Spees appears to have felt unchallenged by her tool-room position, testifying that she found it to be ‘more boring’ than welding." It looks like the nebulous idea of job fulfillment is now in play in determining the existence of an “adverse” employment action.
Wired: Coming to the States?
To build the Cygnet concept, Aston swaddled a Toyota iQ in loads of leather and added a grille with a grin like the Cheshire Cat. Under the skin, though, it’s got the same 1-liter, three-cylinder engine as the 56-mpg Toyota iQ.
Would you pay $35,000 for an Aston Martin microcar?
Would you pay $35,000 for an Aston Martin microcar?
Well, This Won't Do Much for the Marriage Rate
Since the marriage rate among Japan's shrinking population is falling and with many of the country's remaining lovebirds heading for Hawaii or Australia's Gold Coast, Atami had to do something. It is trying to attract single men—and their handheld devices.
In the first month of the city's promotional campaign launched July 10, more than 1,500 male fans of the Japanese dating-simulation game LovePlus+ have flocked to Atami for a romantic date with their videogame character girlfriends.
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
Back By Popular Demand: Trillin on Edna Buchanan
In the newsroom of the Miami Herald, there is some disagreement about which of Edna Buchanan's first paragraphs stands as the classic Edna lead. I line up with the fried-chicken faction. The fried-chicken story was about a rowdy ex-con named Gary Robinson, who late one Sunday night lurched drunkenly into a Church's outlet, shoved his way to the front of the line, and ordered a three-piece box of fried chicken. Persuaded to wait his turn, he reached the counter again five or ten minutes later, only to be told that Church's had run out of fried chicken. The young woman at the counter suggested that he might like chicken nuggets instead. Robinson responded to the suggestion by slugging her in the head. That set off a chain of events that ended with Robinson's being shot dead by a security guard. Edna Buchanan covered the murder for the Herald—there are policemen in Miami who say that it wouldn't be a murder without her—and her story began with what the fried-chicken faction still regards as the classic Edna lead: "Gary Robinson died hungry."
Read the rest of Calvin Trillin's article in The New Yorker.
Read the rest of Calvin Trillin's article in The New Yorker.
You Know the "Halo Effect" May Be Operating When...
- People keep mentioning that the applicant is an Ivy Leaguer.
- The committee's first choice for the executive position has less real management experience than the manager of a local Burger King.
- Much is made of the applicant's good looks.
- Eloquence is ranked higher than decision making skills.
- Experience once regarded as essential is now described as optional.
- Charisma becomes a substitute for competence.
- Flaws that sink other applicants are now regarded as virtues.
The Intangibles, History, and Alumni
I was working last night on the last section of a book on managing Equal Employment Opportunity programs.
The benchmark that I'm using is simple: Discuss the intangible, often unaddressed, items that I'd tell a new EEO manager over a cup of coffee.
In my experience, the intangibles can make an enormous difference. Two practices may look roughly the same, but Option B will produce much better results than Option A. Why? Because there is an intangible advantage that Option B has in this organization at this time. It may not be logical but it is realistic. We learn more from experience than from logic.
Which brings me to another point: Preserving those intangibles in brief paragraphs on client contacts. We wave goodbye to a departing employee without fully considering the memory that just walked out the door. Although this should be done on a regular basis by employees who are staying, whenever an employee has announced a resignation or a retirement, it could make sense to have the person record the lessons learned on various projects or with various customers. That recording should contain the intangible items a replacement might not know; the little items that can tip the scales.
I also like the idea of having periodic "Alumni Group" meetings with former employees to bring them up to date on projects and to pick their brains. [Also have an alumni newsletter.] This pool of proven talent can be tapped in hard times when staff is lean and during crisis situations when special skills are needed.
Small things that are not so small.
The benchmark that I'm using is simple: Discuss the intangible, often unaddressed, items that I'd tell a new EEO manager over a cup of coffee.
In my experience, the intangibles can make an enormous difference. Two practices may look roughly the same, but Option B will produce much better results than Option A. Why? Because there is an intangible advantage that Option B has in this organization at this time. It may not be logical but it is realistic. We learn more from experience than from logic.
Which brings me to another point: Preserving those intangibles in brief paragraphs on client contacts. We wave goodbye to a departing employee without fully considering the memory that just walked out the door. Although this should be done on a regular basis by employees who are staying, whenever an employee has announced a resignation or a retirement, it could make sense to have the person record the lessons learned on various projects or with various customers. That recording should contain the intangible items a replacement might not know; the little items that can tip the scales.
I also like the idea of having periodic "Alumni Group" meetings with former employees to bring them up to date on projects and to pick their brains. [Also have an alumni newsletter.] This pool of proven talent can be tapped in hard times when staff is lean and during crisis situations when special skills are needed.
Small things that are not so small.
Quote of the Day
Leadership is intangible, and therefore no weapon ever designed can replace it.
- Omar N. Bradley
- Omar N. Bradley
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