Actually, it *is* personal
Do you remember Dr. Shipman ? He was a kindly old family doc who treated many rich, elderly women in the north of England. He was said to be a very good doctor and his patients all adored him. Unfortunately, he was also the world’s busiest serial killer who murdered around 400 of his patients, often faking their wills so he could inherit their money.
For his crimes, the good doctor went to prison, where he later committed suicide.
Was Dr. Shipman or a good person or a bad person?
- He killed 400 people - that’s bad.
- He treated many other patients without killing them - that’s good.
- He used to self-medicate - that’s bad.
- He was later in rehab, got “clean” and became a respected member of the community - that’s good.
So was he good or bad? Well, obviously he was bad, because he killed 400 people, but what if he had saved the lives of 400 people but only murdered one old woman for her money? Would he have been a good person then?
I chose this rather extreme example to highlight something I’ve noticed in the business world which always amazes me anew.
There is a tendency among business people to create an artificial separation between the “personal” world and the “business” world and allow (and tolerate) behaviour in one that would have been considered grossly unacceptable in the other. “It’s nothing personal” has become the perfext prefix to both underhand tactics and the criticism that follows them.
Starbucks mermaid gets her tits back
Burlesque-inspired activists manage to achieve what armies of marketeers have consistently failed to do: give Starbucks back their hippie edge!
Full story here.
LinkedIn recommendations you’re never likely to see
The most impressive thing about this clown is how he managed to hold down a job for so long while being addicted to both crack and heroin. We all love his crazy antics around the office so we tend to turn a blind eye when he steals office supplies to pay for his habit.
If your company needs an office comedy drunk to turn attention away from your CEO’s adulterous relations with his PA then you really can’t do better than this guy.
Once you get over the personal hygene issues and his droning, shrill voice, you realise this guy really isn’t that bad…
This guy is a great salesman and an asset to his company. which is to say he’d backstab you in a second and lie through his nose to make a sale.
He’s an obnoxious little guy, but he can’t hold his drink. Buy him a single beer and he’ll spill all his trade secrets. Buy him two and he’ll probably go home with you, whether you want him to or not.
I am not sure exactly what services this guy’s company is providing me, but he keeps taking me out to expensive dinners and getting me drunk so what the hell.
She is an extremely talented, professional individual with unparalleled industry knowledge and a list of contacts as long as her arm. She has singlehandedly turned this company into the thriving business it is today. Any company would be extremely lucky to have her.*
* (we hate her, someone else please, please hire her so we’re rid of her once and for all )
Ditzy but easy. Nuff said.
He’s a great guy, not one of those bosses who’d expect you to sleep with him for a promotion. Unless you’re a blonde, of course, but even then a blowjob is usually enough.
Blogging code of conduct (now with cool badges!)
Lameness knows no limits. The “blogging code of conduct” saga continues… Thank god it’s unenforcable, but at least we all get funky badges to stick on our websites to warn people they may get offended. I wonder who decides what’s offensive? I know the US is full of Christians now and many Christians find homosexuality offensive. Should Gay guys writing about their homosexual lifestyles brand themselves as potentially offensive now to protect people who don’t like the thought of men sleeping with men? Why not? It’s offensive if it offends me, right? Where do you draw the line?
I love the way everyone always has to conform to sensibilities of the most humourless, oversensitive, overly PC individuals. Why don’t these people just learn to just deal with it. Get net nanny or something or just chill.
With this in mind, I’ve made my own badges. As an individual with a brain and a healthy appreciation of free speech, it offends me when I come across blogs written by people who want to “enforce” their idea of “civility” on others. It would really help if there was a nifty little badge displayed somewhere prominent, that warned me about the situation before I started reading and got annoyed. I’m not a great designer by no means, but here are a few suggestions:
The BBC discover SEO
Shock! Horror! Did you know that search engines can be manipulated? Did you know that “miserable failure” used to link to George W. Bush? Read all about it here.
What can I say, I’m stunned!
Corporate myths - busted!
Let’s face it: corporate jobs are crappy. Most intelligent people wouldn’t want to work in an environment like that unless the payback was really impressive. But just like any other pyramid scheme, the people at the top of corporations get massive pay cheques, while the people at the bottom of the food chain get shafted. We can’t all get the big bucks, right?
So how do you get masses of people to agree to work in a bad environment for crap pay? You train them like sheep. You create a whole work mythology and fool people into thinking this is the way things are and should be. Most people never stray far enough from the path to realise they’re being treated like slaves.
So what are those lies they sell us to make us do what they want?
Feeling better about leaving
I found out the other day how much my pay rise would have been had I waited until my next pay review before leaving. Frankly, “insulting” doesn’t even cover it. The Evil Empire apparently have their own ideas of what constitutes a fair pay rise across all their companies which seem to be practically on the wrong side of inflation. After tax, NI and my student loan repayments (bastards) I’d have enough left to buy an extra pair of cheap shoes a month. If that. Gone are the happy days of my bosses upping our pay to what they believed we deserved, which would have matched my pay to the price range jobs like mine are advertised at.
Casualties of change
I just got back from someone’s leaving drinks. Not mine, I hasten to add, but a sales guy from an advertising network I buy from who’s packing it in and taking a major life changing step with his GF, moving out of London and completely changing sector. Great guy, great company. In fact, they’re one of the best I’ve worked with and totally deserve the above well-anchored link (and even a similar link on a better ranking blog). I’ve been working with this guy since my very first days of doing online marketing and he was one of those rare people who made me realise not all sales people are slimy, greedy bastards who only look at short-term gain. I’m really happy for him for pursuing his dream, but the whole thing got me a bit introspective (in a 2 double vodkas sort of way).