Archive for the ‘Things That Confuse Me’ Category

If Familiarity Breeds Contempt …

Thursday, July 10th, 2008

… does distance breed admiration?

ROI Speedwagon

Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008

“A band from Hackensack?” Thanks to Dan Glick for that one.

General Management: The ‘Dark Matter’ of Business

Sunday, June 29th, 2008

Here’s one from the Dean of the Darden school of business:

General management in business is like “dark matter” in physics: it is the invisible force that binds everything else together.

He sure does say the “Darden-est” things.

The Truth About the Markets

Monday, January 28th, 2008

Great video mock interivews of what’s really roiling the markets, from “The Two Johns,” and another from them: “It’s Credit, and It’s Crunchy“.

When Rappers Get Ahold of PowerPoint

Thursday, January 24th, 2008

Check it out.

Brokeback Bankers

Thursday, January 24th, 2008

It’s no “Baby Got WACC,” but

MBA Marketing

Thursday, January 24th, 2008

When it comes to education, the “business model” is pretty clear. There’s even a conference on marketing higher ed to (suckers like us) people who’ll pay for it.

I’ve Got a Crick in My Neck Watching This Sony

Thursday, January 17th, 2008

Cameraman.jpgIn our latest example of questionable marketing, we notice the Sony commercial that intones, “When you watch on a Sony HDTV set, you’re watching the same way the cameraman [at a sporting event] does.”

So, watching a Sony TV is like having my neck craned at an uncomfortable angle, while standing for hours in inclement weather with a director screaming in my ear? Mmmm. Get me one o’ them Sonys, dude!

Be a Banker: Enjoy “Change”

Monday, January 14th, 2008

University of Chicago GSB treats us to a podcast with alum Brady Dougan, now the head of CSFB (Credit Suisse First Boston), giving a speech on how much change there is in banking — how the numbers of deals and complex deals and so on goes from eight in a year to eight in a finger snap. And he tells the students they should get into banking because it’s so exciting and they’ll see so much change.

Some of that change, of course, being that the grads who go to work for a major bank will get laid off and lose their jobs. Or go through the equal stress of having to lay off others. (Unless they’re trained not to stress out — as good MBA students are, of course, of course — because if all accrues to “shareholder value,” the economy grows and there are opportunities to trade the one job for another.)

Search for the Chicago GSB series on iTunes if you want to find it. Or, you can get it at this URL from the iTunes store (it’s free — you need iTunes software). Be prepared to also listen to Dougan drop the names of countries he’s been in the way some people drop the names of famous people they’ve dined with. Hard to say if it’s unassuming or trying to get all these GSB newbies to sign up for jobs at CSFB.

Shorter, Faster !

Thursday, January 10th, 2008
Photo 2.jpg
Unlike bagels and convenience store drinks, which have to get ever bigger to keep Americans satisfied, the workweek has to keep getting shorter. We go from the One Minute Manager to the 10-second variety. From a four-hour day to a four-hour week!
What do YOU think? What will the next book be? “The Two-Hour Day”? “The 5-Second Manager Working a 15-Minute Day While Chomping an Oversized Bagel Washed Down with a Bucket-Sized Slurpee”?
Sign on and say!