Don't be sanctimonious, sport fans. The pressure to better oneself, in order to perform better in sports, is huge. It may mean a career; it may mean millions of dollars; it may mean fame.
Steroid use is just today's focal point. Why on earth should Congress worry about steroid use by athletes? What about cortisone shots given to athletes with strains or sprains? What about vitamins?
Steroids may prove to be harmful and dangerous, but while I am at a sporting event, I want to see the best performers out there.
If a sport wants to ban the use of a product or action, the governing body should say so in the rules, then establish random testing of its athletes. Fail the test, forfeit eligibility, ala Tour de France.
Until then, let 'em play.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Friday, January 11, 2008
Flubbery Sychophants Kill Countrywide
So, Bank of America has agreed to buy wounded mortgage giant Countrywide. It is a good fit, as B of A wants a visible mortgage presence, and CFC certainly offers that. Countrywide wanted a bigger banking presence, but years of ill-advised executive hirings crippled the culture there.
When Countrywide became a "bank" several years ago, the existing CFC upper management decided that success and expansion were inevitable, and began a spree of hiring. Management hiring.
Some were promoted from within, but many came from outside. That began a slide in company productivity. It may not have been apparent in the annual reports at first, but a fissure between management and non-management had been opened.
The new executives, with little company experience to guide them, fell back upon their degrees in Business Management, and formalized processes. What they learned in Management 101 did not exactly pan out as their text books said. With the over-proceduralization of the work flow, they had inadvertently severed the link between performance and reward.
While the upper management created 'town hall' meetings for the benefit of the other employees, those events were embarrassments. Instead of answers to real questions, employees were treated to 'feel good' videos, featuring the hilarious hi-jinks of upper-management. "Hey, let's put on a show". The flubbery sycophants running the company knew nothing about rewarding employees, but they sure had the time and talent to feature themselves in cutesy videos.
Time now to pay the piper. B of A will most assuredly flush middle and upper management out of CFC. That action alone will save millions of dollars, and the organization will certainly run better.
And poor Angelo Mozilo. His fat-cat contract spells out the repugnant amount of money he will get because of this company sale. Money, and chartered jet flights, and lifetime health insurance for him and his family, and country club membership for several years....
No, Countrywide had a good run. When the economy was moving up, it grew. But when things turned down, the overweight management pyramid toppled onto, and crushed, the broken Countrywide Business Model (Promote from WithOut; Golf Trumps Common Sense; and Fat Floats).
R.I.P. CFC
When Countrywide became a "bank" several years ago, the existing CFC upper management decided that success and expansion were inevitable, and began a spree of hiring. Management hiring.
Some were promoted from within, but many came from outside. That began a slide in company productivity. It may not have been apparent in the annual reports at first, but a fissure between management and non-management had been opened.
The new executives, with little company experience to guide them, fell back upon their degrees in Business Management, and formalized processes. What they learned in Management 101 did not exactly pan out as their text books said. With the over-proceduralization of the work flow, they had inadvertently severed the link between performance and reward.
While the upper management created 'town hall' meetings for the benefit of the other employees, those events were embarrassments. Instead of answers to real questions, employees were treated to 'feel good' videos, featuring the hilarious hi-jinks of upper-management. "Hey, let's put on a show". The flubbery sycophants running the company knew nothing about rewarding employees, but they sure had the time and talent to feature themselves in cutesy videos.
Time now to pay the piper. B of A will most assuredly flush middle and upper management out of CFC. That action alone will save millions of dollars, and the organization will certainly run better.
And poor Angelo Mozilo. His fat-cat contract spells out the repugnant amount of money he will get because of this company sale. Money, and chartered jet flights, and lifetime health insurance for him and his family, and country club membership for several years....
No, Countrywide had a good run. When the economy was moving up, it grew. But when things turned down, the overweight management pyramid toppled onto, and crushed, the broken Countrywide Business Model (Promote from WithOut; Golf Trumps Common Sense; and Fat Floats).
R.I.P. CFC
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