Weekend Musings

Why do so many business books use the word "Shark" in the title? Viv noted this phenomenon the other day, in titles such as Invest like a Shark, Swim with the Sharks, The Way of the Shark, Snipers, Shills and Sharks, Shark Tank, How to Beat the Sharks, The White Sharks of Wall Street, How to Beat the Money Sharks, Doing Business with Sharks, Flame-broiled Shark etc., etc. She recommended "Shark Repellent Investing: Avoid Nasty Bites in Your Portfolio" as my first book title. She says that the book will "write itself", and a shark title all but guarantees sales.

Hey, does anyone in management notice that the twelve hour, "your attendance required" seminar called "Work and Life Balance" creates twelve hours of catch-up work at the office? Not to mention a bottom- line deficit of 24 hours of your life wasted -- 24 hours you'll
never get back.

Munster Nation Tip: Always hire good people with rare and unusual talents (multi-linguists, track stars, hog-calling champions). This might not seem important at first. But at some future date a uniquely-talented employee will use theirability to give you an edge. Recent example: I have sharpshooter (extremely far) eyesight. This comes in handy at MacWorld keynotes. I can read the plethora of notes hastily scribbled in the margins on Steve's script, way up there on the stage.

As practiced as they seem, these talks are really off-the-cuff fare, and "loose cannon" Steve's handler's are worried he might lose it and go off-script. After all, the guy is past 50, so anything can happen. Anyway, to prevent disaster the margins are filled with stuff like "don't reveal iPhone sales numbers x,xxx,xxx!" and "NO telling Macbook sales y,yyy,yyy!" and "NO, don't mention products Z and ZZ yet!".

Oh yes. Corn is still in season.