I was sitting in the porch last night, enjoying a Labatt Porter after an excellent pot roast, when my mind traced an interesting parallel between today's workplace and the entertainment business.
50 years ago, when you went to see a movie or buy a record, men were real men. Gene Kelley had grace. Sinatra had style. Miles had talent. Slim was the king. Same with gals. Andrews. Bergman. Gosh I love her.
Power up your large plasma screen tonight and analyze what you see. Lindsay going in and out of rehab. John & Kate showing their so-called misery to millions of brain dead viewers. Talent-free people singing off-key during prime time. And when you thought you'd hit the bottom of the barrel, you discover her.
Ladies & gentlemen, our world is being UPSed to hell. But you should not be learning anything at this point.
The parallel with the workplace creates a daunting perspective. 50 years ago the business environment was very different than what we see today. People had objectives. Ruthless tycoons were sweeping the world and pushing products and services to the marketplace in less time than it takes to finish a whiskey sour.
Today's business world is so complicated that J.P. Morgan would abandon the idea of building a nation-wide railroad system. Government would require to rubber-stamp every rail and nail before it is laid down. The idea of charcoal-driven locomotive would be shot down by environment fanatics with no college degree. J.P. would spend his days talking about Sarbox or PCI-DSS compliance instead of nailing down his competitors in the mud.
You don't believe me? Look at the time it took me to acquire Stanley, and ask yourself how long it would have taken someone during the Rockefeller-days.
People with no talent have infiltrated every sphere of our world. And talent-free individuals clog our way of living and doing business. 42% of all workers in Quebec are unionized. Eventually, the prevalence of morons should lead to the destruction of the world. Stupidity is not only tolerated, it is widely accepted as the gold standard.
While we cannot gear society in a different direction for the moment, we can structure our companies to take bosozity into account. If your company is like mine, you know you have very few A players, a bunch of B players and a truckload of F players.
Join me today on a crusade to grow talent at minimal cost. We badly need people with brains, but such endeavor must NOT impact our bottom line. Wall Street analysts do not check if your company has a lot of brain power, but they do check earnings.
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