Of course it’s important to read the great poets and novelists. But not in a university classroom, where literature has been turned into a bland, soulless competition for grades and status

July 12, 2013, 7:44 p.m. ET

Who Ruined the Humanities?

Of course it’s important to read the great poets and novelists. But not in a university classroom, where literature has been turned into a bland, soulless competition for grades and status.

LEE SIEGEL

Fewer and fewer undergraduates are majoring in the humanities, and critic Lee Siegel couldn’t be happier. As he tells WSJ’s Gary Rosen, great poetry and novels are meant to be experienced in private and alone, away from the competitive pressures of the classroom. You’ve probably heard the baleful reports. The number of college students majoring in the humanities is plummeting, according to a big study released last month by the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. The news has provoked a flood of high-minded essays deploring the development as a symptom and portent of American decline. But there is another way to look at this supposed revelation (the number of humanities majors has actually been falling since the 1970s). Read more of this post

Bill of rights or branding exercise? As the Magna Carta approaches its 800th anniversary, it has become a symbol of issues that stray far from its original remit

July 12, 2013 6:06 pm

Thoroughly modern Magna Carta

By Peter Aspden

Bill of rights or branding exercise? As the Magna Carta approaches its 800th anniversary, it has become a symbol of issues that stray far from its original remit

It was, as these things go, something of a flop. The Magna Carta was a document hammered out between King John and a group of feisty barons in the summer of 1215 that set out an agreement between them on the subjects of England’s taxation, feudal rights and justice. It was the culmination of a sticky period for both parties, and must have been greeted with some eyebrow-raising on that evening’s edition of Newsnight. The most striking part of the charter allowed, for the first time, for the powers of the king to be limited by a written document. Observers hoped that it heralded a new era of collaboration between the monarch and his subjects. But the dawn was false. The Magna Carta was valid for just 10 weeks. Read more of this post

How do you become truly influential? When You’ve Done Enough, Do More

When You’ve Done Enough, Do More

by Mark Goulston and John Ullmen  |  11:00 AM July 12, 2013

How do you become truly influential? We’ve found that the most highly respected leaders avoid techniques to gain short-term compliance; they also steer clear of a self-centered “How can I get people to do what I want?” mindset. Instead, they take a different approach altogether.

We interviewed over 100 high-impact influencers from a wide range of industries and organizations for our recent book. To achieve real influence, they tend to follow four steps that turn typical persuasion strategies upside down. These steps are action guidelines all of us can use to get things done with people in ways that not only yield great results, but also strengthen relationships and enhance credibility. Read more of this post

How Share-Price Fixation Killed Enron

How Share-Price Fixation Killed Enron

by Lawrence Weiss  |  10:00 AM July 11, 2013

In December, 2001, just prior to filing for bankruptcy, Enron Corporation had approximately $2 billion in cash and no debt coming due. Despite its infamous financial chicanery, it still appeared to be a viable, profitable firm. So why did Enron go bankrupt? Was it because of the fraud, or was there another reason?

At the annual conference of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners late last month, former Enron Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow, who served six years in prison for his part in Enron’s deceptions, offered an explanation. In a keynote speech, he said Enron went bankrupt because of“decisions” made in October 2001. He didn’t say which decisions. But after hearing Fastow speak twice to my Financial Statement Accounting class and reviewing independent evidence, I think I have good idea. It appears that Enron’s final fatal mistake was to try to support its stock price instead of living up to key contractual obligations required to maintain its credit rating. Read more of this post

Philip Caldwell, Ford CEO After Henry Ford II, Dies at 93

Philip Caldwell, Ford CEO After Henry Ford II, Dies at 93

Philip Caldwell, Ford Motor Co.’s first chief executive officer who wasn’t a member of the founder’s family, and who gambled the automaker’s future on the Taurus sedan in the 1980s, has died. He was 93. He died yesterday at his home in New Canaan, Connecticut, his family said in a statement provided by the company. The cause was complications of a stroke. Caldwell followed in the footsteps of more famous executives. He became president of Ford in 1978 after Henry Ford II, grandson of founder Henry Ford, fired Lee Iacocca and chose Caldwell to lead the Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker, first as CEO in 1979 and as chairman the following year. His close relationship with Henry Ford II earned Caldwell the nickname “The Prince” inside the company, according to a New York Times profile in 1979. He was “remarkably cool and resolute in a crisis,” wrote Paul Ingrassia and Joseph B. White in their 1994 book, “Comeback: The Fall and Rise of the American Automobile Industry.” He “had enormous analytical skills and the determination to examine any problem from every conceivable angle,” they wrote. As president and then CEO, Caldwell presided over a turnaround. Ford endured almost $3.3 billion of losses during two U.S. recessions from 1980 through 1982, as well as questions over the design and safety of its Pinto model. Read more of this post

At Sears, Billionaire Eddie Lampert’s Warring Divisions Model Adds to the Troubles

Billionaire Eddie Lampert Is Running Sears Like The Coliseum, And It’s A Disaster

MAX NISEN JUL. 11, 2013, 5:50 PM 6,154 12

Five years ago, Sears Chairman Eddie Lampert broke the company into 30 plus autonomous businesses, each with its own president, chief marketing officer, board, and separately measured profit and loss. His idea was to harness the power of the free market, and to produce better and deeper data than anyone else. But the radical restructuring went horribly wrong, as divisions engaged in cutthroat competition against each other, reports Mina Kimes at Bloomberg Businessweek. Some highlights from her report: In order for a division to get help from the IT or HR departments, it had to write up a formal agreement or use a contractor. Since each company had its own board of directors, some executives were on five or six of them and spent all day in meetings. Executive bonuses were based on individual unit performance, so people tried to boost their own division’s profit at the expense of others. Read more of this post

Scandal-hit Thai monk seems to be a master of marketing

Scandal-hit monk seems to be a master of marketing

Luang Pu Nenkham is a controversial monk today. But months ago, thousands of people held complete faith in him. -The Nation/ANN 
Fri, Jul 12, 2013
The Nation/Asia News Network

THAILAND – How did he manage to command their overwhelming respect and support? The answer might be as simple as a well-crafted marketing plan. It all began many years ago when someone in his close circle reportedly took notice of people wondering why he looked much older in a photo than his true age, then decided to spread a story that he was born to liberate Buddhists from the chain of suffering. Since the rumours circulated, the monk has attracted a huge following. He came to be called a “Luang Pu” – a title usually reserved for a monk old enough to be a grandfather, instead of a man still in his 30s today. Read more of this post

NASA telescope to probe long-standing solar mystery to determine how the sun heats its atmosphere to millions of degrees, sending off rivers of particles that define the boundaries of the solar system

NASA telescope to probe long-standing solar mystery

Thu, Jun 27 2013

By Irene Klotz

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) – A small NASA telescope was launched into orbit on Thursday on a mission to determine how the sun heats its atmosphere to millions of degrees, sending off rivers of particles that define the boundaries of the solar system. The study is far from academic. Solar activity directly impacts Earth’s climate and the space environment beyond the planet’s atmosphere. Solar storms can knock out power grids, disrupt radio signals and interfere with communications, navigation and other satellites in orbit. Read more of this post

Investable vs. employable: Which startup founder are you?

Investable vs. employable: Which startup founder are you?

Guest 11, Jul 2013Featured 

John Fearon is a lifelong entrepreneur. His 35 years have taken him from selling sweets as a child, to global digital marketing, to founding Dropmyemail.com, one of the fastest growing cloud companies today. Follow him on Twitter at @JohnFearon.

As a startup founder, would you consider yourself to be investable or employable? There’s a big difference in terms of being nice, consistency, passion and attitude. After going through a few rounds of raising funds with numerous startups, I’ve come to realize that investors use two universal, yet unspoken, categorization of founders pitching to them: “Investable” or “Employable”. The terms are quite self-explanatory and are antonyms of each other. That being said, it doesn’t mean that an investable founder will definitely get funded or that an employable founder cannot. I believe that the fundamental differences between these two are their characters and the different end results they get. This is especially so when investors encounter a startup is in the twilight zone – where everything (i.e., traction, revenue model, target markets, etc.) is unknown yet intriguing. At this early stage of funding, investors can’t determine anything from the data, so they base their decision on the person who is doing the pitch. Here, the investors need to feel a connection before parting with their money to the founders. Read more of this post

Unraveling the Pollinating Secrets of a Bee’s Buzz

July 11, 2013

Unraveling the Pollinating Secrets of a Bee’s Buzz

By CARL ZIMMER

Now is the time of year when bees buzz from flower to flower. And for many plants, the very survival of their species depends on that buzz. The flowers and the insects are joined together in a partnership of sound.

Bumblebees and other insects use buzzing to shake pollen out of flowers for food — and they fertilize flowers along the way. Scientists are exploring this acoustic feat to figure out how it has evolved, and how it helps sustain our own food supply. Read more of this post

Penang is as famous for being the nation’s jeans centre as it is for its char kway teow; and Yen Global is believed to command about 10% of the Malaysian market share for jeans

Updated: Tuesday July 9, 2013 MYT 8:39:21 AM

Sky-high demand for denim

STORY AND PHOTOS BY GRACE CHEN

Dynamic team: (From left) Kok Beng, Yen Global group marketing director Goh Kok Peng and Yeoh. ]

It may not be common knowledge, but Penang is as famous for being the nation’s jeans centre as it is for its char kway teow,says Goh Kok Beng, group executive chairman of Yen Global Bhd. The company manufactures and distributes the Edwin, Mustang and GA Blue brands from the company’s factory headquarters in Bayan Lepas. The genesis of the island’s denim history can be traced back to the late 1960s when a large Hong Kong-based garment factory began manufacturing jeans under license for Levi’s. “They were not big, they were huge!” recalls Goh, who was still in school then. From Goh’s vivid recollections, they had close to 1,000 skilled workers earning a base salary of RM300 a month stationed in three areas – Rifle Range, Parit Buntar and Balik Pulau in the early 1970s. The production rate was believed to number 100,000 pairs a month. Read more of this post

Is top-down culture to blame for Asiana crash?

2013-07-11 17:23

Is culture to blame for Asiana crash?

Experts say evidence is ‘inconclusive’ to ‘stereotypical’
By Kim Young-jin
Did culture contribute to the crash of Asiana Airlines Flight 214?
Western media speculation appears itchy to point out that Korea’s top-down hierarchal ways caused communication problems in the cockpit, leading to the fatal crash at San Francisco International Airport last Sunday.
“Despite changes, including an improved safety record, Korea’s aviation sector remains rooted in a national character that’s largely about preserving hierarchy ― and asking few questions of those in authority,” an article by CNBC said. Read more of this post

Worthless, Impossible and Stupid: How Contrarian Entrepreneurs Create and Capture Extraordinary Value

Worthless, Impossible and Stupid: How Contrarian Entrepreneurs Create and Capture Extraordinary Value

by Daniel Isenberg  (Author)

Introducing the global mind-set changing the way we do business.
In this fascinating book, global entrepreneurship expert Daniel Isenberg presents a completely novel way to approach business building—with the insights and lessons learned from a worldwide cast of entrepreneurial characters. Not bound by a western, Silicon Valley stereotype, this group of courageous and energeticdoers has created a global and diverse mix of companies destined to become tomorrow’s leading organizations. Worthless, Impossible, and Stupid is about how enterprising individuals from around the world see hidden value in situations where others do not, use that perception to develop products and services that people initially don’t think they want, and ultimately go on to realize extraordinary value for themselves, their customers, and society as a whole. What these business builders have in common is a contrarian mind-set that allows them to create opportunities and succeed where others see nothing. Amazingly, this process repeats itself in one form or another countless times a day all over the world. From Albuquerque to Islamabad, you will travel with Isenberg to discover unusual yet practical insights that you can use in your own business. Meet the founders of Grameenphone in Bangladesh, PACIV in Puerto Rico, Sea to Table in New York, Actavis in Iceland, Studio Moderna in Slovenia, Hartwell Metals in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, Given Imaging in Israel, WildChina in China, and many others. You’ll be moved by the stories of these plucky start-ups—many of them fueled by adversity and, more often than not, by necessity. Great stories, stunning successes, crushing failures—they’re all here. What can we, in the East and West, learn from them? What can you learn—and what will these entrepreneurial stories, so compellingly told, inspire you to do? Let this book open doors for you where you once saw only walls. If you’ve ever felt the urge to turn a glimmer of an idea into something extraordinary, these stories are for you. Read more of this post

The Inner Game Of Everything: Why Is A Four-Decade-Old Tennis Book Still A Self-Help Sensation?

The Inner Game Of Everything: Why Is A Four-Decade-Old Tennis Book Still A Self-Help Sensation?

A Harvard English major wrote The Inner Game of Tennis in 1972. A million copies later, its ideas are still some of the most influential in sports — and beyond, taken seriously by actors, politicians, and even sex researchers. What’s its secret? Maybe that there is no secret.posted on July 5, 2013 at 2:36pm EDT

Reeves WiedemanBuzzFeed Contributor

The fall of 2006 was not a good one for Lawrence Jackson. Earlier that year, he had ended his sophomore season as a defensive end at the University of Southern California with 16 career sacks and his name high on a number of NFL draft boards. “People were asking me if I was gonna leave after that year,” Jackson recalled recently. “I decided to go back, and part of that was to improve my numbers.” But eight games into his junior year, Jackson’s sack total remained stuck at 16. Against Oregon State, in October, the Trojans gave up 33 points, and USC was knocked from the national title race. Jackson hadn’t managed a solo tackle, much less a sack. Fans changed his nickname from “LoJack” to “NoSack.” The following week, immediately after another sack-less game against Stanford, he learned that a close relative had been killed in a car accident. “It was just a lot of pressure, and a lot anger and frustration,” he said. “Nothing was going right.” Read more of this post

The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance

The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance

by W. Timothy Gallwey  (Author) , Zach Kleiman (Preface) , Pete Carroll (Foreword)

Amazon.com Review

A phenomenon when first published in 1972, the Inner Game was a real revelation. Instead of serving up technique, it concentrated on the fact that, as Gallwey wrote, “Every game is composed of two parts, an outer game and an inner game.” The former is played against opponents, and is filled with lots of contradictory advice; the latter is played not against, but within the mind of the player, and its principal obstacles are self-doubt and anxiety. Gallwey’s revolutionary thinking, built on a foundation of Zen thinking and humanistic psychology, was really a primer on how to get out of your own way to let your best game emerge. It was sports psychology before the two words were pressed against each other and codified into an accepted discipline. The new edition of this remarkable work–Billie Jean King called the original her tennis bible–refines Gallwey’s theories on concentration, gamesmanship, breaking bad habits, learning to trust yourself on the court, and awareness. “No matter what a person’s complaint when he has a lesson with me, I have found the most beneficial first step,” he stressed, “is to encourage him to see and feel what he is doing–that is, to increase his awareness of what actually is.” There are aspects of psychobabble and mysticism to be found here, sure, but Gallwey instructs as much by anecdote as anything else, and time has ultimately proved him a guru. What seemed radical in the early ’70s is now accepted ammunition for the canon; the right mental approach is every bit as important as a good backhand. The Inner Game of Tennis still does much to keep that idea in play. –Jeff Silverman

From the Inside Flap

The Inner Game of Tennis is a revolutionary program for overcoming the self-doubt, nervousness, and lapses of concentration that can keep a player from winning. Now available in a revised paperback edition, this classic bestseller can change the way the game of tennis is played.

The Innovation Mindset in Action: Jerry Buss (1933-2013), the longtime LA Lakers owner who rose from an impoverished Depression-era childhood to the Basketball Hall of Fame and ultimately transformed the sport of basketball

The Innovation Mindset in Action: Jerry Buss

by Vijay Govindarajan and Srikanth Srinivas  |  11:00 AM July 9, 2013

Innovators think and do things differently in order to achieve extraordinary success. They are found not just in the world of business, although they do have strong leadership qualities and excellent business sense as a common core. Our research indicates that whether they are CEOs, senior executives, sports team owners, or film directors, game changers who stand head and shoulders above the rest share a common set of qualities that we call the innovation mindset. In a series of blog posts, we’ll introduce a few game changers and explore the common qualities that make them such effective innovators: they see and act on opportunities, use “and” thinking andresourcefulness, focus on outcomes, and act to “expand the pie.” Regardless of where they start, innovators persist till they successfully change the game. Take, for example, Jerry Buss (1933-2013), the longtime LA Lakers owner who rose from an impoverished Depression-era childhood to the Basketball Hall of Fame and ultimately transformed the sport of basketball. Innovators connect the dots differently and see opportunities that others don’t. They seize opportunities that others don’t dare to. Read more of this post

Why Fights Erupt in Family Businesses

Why Fights Erupt in Family Businesses

by Josh Baron and Rob Lachenauer  |  12:00 PM July 9, 2013

Two brothers sharing ownership in a fourth-generation concrete business had a bitter falling out over an unlikely issue: a sailboat. The older sibling accused the younger of dipping into the till to support his racing habit. The younger brother struck back by issuing an ultimatum: buy out my share of the company, or sell me yours. An ugly fight ensued, affecting the business, the family, the employees, and the customers.

The rift between these two men — the father and uncle of a colleague of ours — never healed. Both men went to their graves without speaking another word to one another; their children grew up as strangers instead of cousins. Read more of this post

Why So Many Leadership Programs Ultimately Fail

Why So Many Leadership Programs Ultimately Fail

by Peter Bregman  |  10:00 AM July 10, 2013

The topic in the Executive Committee meeting turned to Europe. The technology company, Alentix*, was doing well and growing annually at the rate of about 15%. But its European division was struggling. It had been five years since the region turned a profit.

Yet no one had addressed that issue. Jean, the head of the Europe office, had been with the company longer than anyone else around the table — he had strong ties with the board — and the topic seemed untouchable. Read more of this post

The only community you need to worry about are the people who buy your stuff; They’re the only ones who truly appreciate your value, and they’re the only ones who have any interest in seeing you succeed

The only community you need to worry about

BY FRANCISCO DAO 
ON JULY 9, 2013

Social media advocates will tell you it’s no longer enough for a business to just have customers or even fans. They have to have an active community of “influencers,” “brand advocates,” and a designated community manager to keep them all warm and happy. As usual, the smankers have it wrong. They think your community is who likes you on Facebook or who attends your launch party. Such people have no commitment to you and are basically just using you for whatever they can get for free. Stop worrying about managing this false community. The only group you need to worry about are the people who buy your stuff. Unless someone is an actual customer, they haven’t experienced your product or service, which means whatever they have to say about your brand is coming from a place of limited knowledge. Furthermore, it is highly unlikely that someone who is not a customer can legitimately identify with, or has any emotional attachment to, your product or service. There’s really no way for them to be a credible advocate for what you offer. Read more of this post

The most dangerous unforced errors: Major, self-inflicted mistakes can undermine a career – or an entire life

July 9, 2013 4:57 pm

The most dangerous unforced errors

By Luke Johnson

Major, self-inflicted mistakes can undermine a career – or an entire life

As Wimbledon has just ended, it feels appropriate to discuss the subject of unforced errors. I’m not referring to shots on a tennis court: I’m talking about big, self-inflicted mistakes that can undermine a commercial career – or indeed an entire life.

● One of the worst blunders is to be insufficiently optimistic when favourable circumstances present themselves. Great business and substantial market openings are rare. To cast them aside too swiftly is a frequent failing. After we took Topps Tiles public in 1997, the shares rose threefold, and it seemed to me that the stock market was overexcited – so I sold a big chunk of my holding. But the journey was only just beginning. The stock climbed at least 500 per cent more over the following years: I could only watch in irritation at the ascent. Gordon Moore, who went on to found Intel, said: “My biggest mistake at Fairchild [Semiconductor] was not appreciating how big the business for integrated circuits would be.” Read more of this post

7 Founders That Got Kicked Out By Their Own Company

7 Founders That Got Kicked Out By Their Own Company

INC STAFF, INC. JUL. 9, 2013, 6:25 PM 12,431

Men’s Wearhouse made headlines recently when it decided to can its TV spokesman and founder George Zimmer. This type of thing happens all the time, says Noam Wasserman, a professor at Harvard Business School. Sometimes their passion detracts from their management skills and they aren’t suited to run the companies their start-ups grow into. Here are seven more founders who learned the hard way.

Martin Eberhard, Tesla

Tesla Motors might be synonymous with the name Elon Musk, but the company has two founders. In 2007, Tesla fired Martin Eberhard from his post as president, but apparently signing a”non-disparagement agreement” didn’t stop him from sounding off on the company. In 2009, Eberhard sued Musk for libel and breach of contract, as well as taking credit for developing Tesla’s Roadster. The suit also claimed Tesla had withheld his severance pay as a consequence of violating the non-disparagement clause. Read more of this post