The New Age Biz Wiz

The New Age Biz Wiz:

I remember my humble beginnings as a broker 35 years ago. (Basically, it was nothing more than a sales job. Entry level, customer service, trainee.)

Now, youngsters are "one with the computer". They move millions, hundreds of millions, of dollars around the globe in minute by minute transactions. Analogous to my becoming an air traffic controller at a busy airport or going on the Ed Sullivan show to keep those plates spinning on sticks. When these youngsters engage in this activity, they earn (or lose) "lots and lots of" money for the companies they work for. We become enraged when big bonuses are payed out. The problem is that we don't only reward the successful. We also reward the failures.

Some twenty-five years ago, an editor said, "we lose money on eight out of ten books we publish". I could never figure out why publishers didn't fire those editors and hire editors able to lose money on only seven out of ten books they publish and increase the rate of success by 50%.

Another analogy is NBC moving Jay Leno from the 11:30 spot because they were afraid of losing Conan O'Brien. (op. cit. all that stuff reported on that bit of media wizardry.) What happened to the old b-school adages? Do they really no longer apply? True, those were the days before the front-page glamour of leveraged buyouts and junk bonds, however, the recent debacles seem to suggest people are more interested in coming up with new and creative ways of doing business than with doing business.

The future: Avatars as a comforting visual for the artificial intelligence running the business of the future that will be beyond the capabilities of mortals.

Remember "The Forbin Project"?

Regards,

Slim

Mail. slimfairview@yahoo.com

Copyright (c) 2010 Slim Fairview