I Didn't Mean What I Said (a Tale of Human Capital)

There have been quite a few pieces in the media of late about the importance of apologizing in our culture.  Many of these pieces have rightly pointed out that the apologies are often phony - or at best insincere - and that the tears shed as part of these apologies are often crocodile tears.  We certainly see this phenomenon in the publicity that surrounds trials ("he showed no remorse" or "he apologized but it seemed phony"), and also in business, when business leaders apologize for their companies' sins but seem to keep repeating them ad nauseam (literally).

Most recently, this phenomenon could be observed in the kerfuffle surrounding statements made by AOL's CEO in announcing cutbacks to one of the company's benefit plans.  After singling out the cases of two seriously ill babies as a justification for the cutback, he was roundly criticized; if pitchforks and torches were still fashionable, you might have seen crowds marching up to AOL's headquarters with both in hand.  However, the media now carry the pitchforks and torches, and they went after him with a vengeance.

Of course, he immediately apologized.  Beyond that, the cutbacks in question were reversed to show the company's good faith and the sincerity behind the apology.  But really, how did this gaffe happen in the first place?  I've worked for quite a few companies in my time, and statements like that almost never emerge spontaneously from the CEO's mouth; rather, they are scripted and edited and reviewed and revised by teams of PR folks, lawyers and so on.  Did they all miss the point? That's possible, but it seems unlikely.

Rather, I wonder if the statements accurately reflected the mindset of the executives who reviewed them.  How many companies repeatedly say things like "our greatest asset is our loyal/brilliant/dedicated/etc. workforce, etc., etc.", only to lay many of them off or dismiss their concerns when they are inconsistent with the executives' prerogatives?  What's wrong with our business culture and capital markets when, particularly in the current dismal economic environment, companies' stock prices rise when there are layoffs?  And are executives (and their needs) so myopic that they can't realize the implications of what they're saying?  I'm reminded of a CEO who spoke at a town meeting about cutbacks and the importance of doing more with less; when asked why the executives didn't seem to be sharing this particular pain, his response was something like "if you're asking why I came here via helicopter, it's really a much more efficient use of my time."  Can you say "let 'em eat cake" in MBA-speak?

Lamm's Literary Lyceum

I recommend Bill Bryson's One Summer. It's a thoroughly enjoyable romp through the summer of 1927 - which was the summer of  Charles Lindbergh and Babe Ruth, among others.

Prima La Musica (or Lammusica)

For the opera fans among us, the new recording of Otello, with Riccardo Muti conducting the Chicago Symphony, is one cast member short of perfect; unfortunately, the cast member in question sings Iago, so it's a pretty serious flaw.  However, all other portions of the recording are brilliant and worth a listen.

Two other recordings that I've loved of late are the new recording of Das Rheingold, conducted by Valery Gergiev, with the amazing and brilliant René Pape as Wotan, and an older recording of the Brahms Piano Concertos, with Nelson Freire and the Gewandhaus Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Chailly - a great recording and  much better than the more recent one with Hélène Grimaud.