Morning Reading, selected articles of interest from various publications.

WalMart CEO interview (NYTimes)
Q. So you find that people make business more complicated than it is?

A. No doubt about it. I think that all of us read far too many business books. I’ve worked 30 years now in management roles, and a number of times I’ve seen a new C.E.O. come in, and the first act is typically to get the leadership team to an offsite. And you get a consultant – because you can’t do it without a consultant – and the consultant then helps the team design a vision. And then you’ve got all these words, and several thousand dollars and a couple of days of golf later, you go back to the company to actually try to communicate that vision throughout the organization. So you hire another consultant to do that. It shouldn’t be like that.
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Do You Hear What I’m Saying?
Unfortunately, Miranda wasn’t happy with the results. “I wanted you to get this ready for publication,” she told Jane. “You made no enhancements.” This confused Jane, who clarified that Miranda hadn’t asked her to edit the manuscript. Miranda’s baffled reply: “Aren’t they [editing and proofreading] the same thing?”
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