Tapping the Vain

Tapping the Vain

You had to know the trivialization of everything would find its way into business at some point. You had to anticipate superficiality, like water, would eventually seep into every nook, cranny, and formerly purposeful aspect of our lives. And so it has. In fact,...
Popularity is the New Productivity

Popularity is the New Productivity

When I took my first full-time job (in a major U.S. insurance and financial-services corporation), my boss said to me: “The quality of your work doesn’t make any difference. The only thing that matters is who you know.” It remains one of the most...
Junk (Food) Science

Junk (Food) Science

According to the WORM (World Organization Rescuing Meaning), the number of bored people in the world has more than septupled since YouTube was invented. Nobody’s really sure why that is, other than the fact that it constitutes innumerable attempts to prove Andy...
Innovation is the New Fear

Innovation is the New Fear

Some syntactical constructions are a little harder to penetrate than others. The following snippet requires a hammer drill with a diamond bit to permeate, after which it could still stand some explication. The snippet comes from an article entitled, “Why The...
Once and For All

Once and For All

A few years ago, I was boarding a flight from Hartford to Atlanta. The weather was cold. So, as soon as the announcement was made that, in the interest of preserving space in the overhead bins for luggage, no coats should be placed in them, most of the people on the...
What’s Not to Like?

What’s Not to Like?

That creaking sound you hear is Western Civilization, or at least the English-speaking parts of it, teetering on the edge of the abyss. That’s right. We’ve finally devolved to the point at which Inc., a Forbes publication, has to publish an article about a...