The Right Way to Win Blog

A previous column described the $4.4 million paid to ransomwire pirates by Colonial Pipeline to free its computer systems. The Federal government recently touted its recovery of $2.3 million of the ransom. Perhaps it’s time to engage privateers. Spiking The Ball On The Three-Yard Line Federal authorities celebrated their recovery of $2.3 million, or 52%,…

The BBC forged documents and lied to obtain a 1995 interview with Princess Diana, then covered it up. But that scandal is just the undercard. Get ready for Oprah v. The Queen. Fake News, British Style A serious breach of BBC Guidelines on straight dealing British judge Lord Dyson issued a damning reporting of BBC…

By 2025, ESG investing may account for $53 trillion, or 1/3, of assets under management. Here are four key questions for combatting the greenwashing this much money will inevitably encourage. 1 – Does ESG Investing Generate Higher Intrinsic Returns To Investors? ESG investing values environmental, social, and governance factors in addition to pure financial returns.…

A pipeline CEO paid $4.4 million in bitcoin to ransomware pirates. How should such piracy be dealt with? And by whom? Half the U.S. Held Hostage The Colonial Pipeline provides about 45% of the U.S. East Coast’s fuel. Soon after ransomware pirates breached and froze pipeline operations on May 7, gas pumps throughout the Eastern…

Approximately 1/3 of Basecamp’s staff (18 of 57 people) have resigned or given notice after management banned social and political discussions on company email accounts. Has Basecamp “imploded,” or do the departures represent “addition by subtraction”? Don’t Think Twice It’s All Right My previous column discussed the rationale and details of Basecamp’s new policy. More…

Just before I started my first job after college, my grandmother pulled me aside and told me, “Don’t talk about religion or politics at work.” That was 35 years ago. Is her advice coming back into fashion? Once Is An Accident. Twice Is A Coincidence. Three Times Is A Trend Coinbase: Focus On Core Mission…

Shareholders of the Special Purpose Acquisition Company (“SPAC”) Multiplan Corp. are suing deal sponsors, who made millions while regular investors lost big. Should we pity these investors, or chalk up another case of fools and their money being soon parted? Experience Is The Best Teacher — A Fool Can Learn No Other Way The plaintiffs’…

Dozens of CEOs and other senior leaders conferred via Zoom this past weekend to explore responses to draft voting-law reforms in various U.S. states. The Zoom call followed Major League Baseball’s pulling its 2021 All Star Game from Atlanta in response to Georgia’s recent voting law. Voting access and voting integrity lie at the heart…

Picking through the charred remains of a Tesla crash last weekend, first responders found two bodies in passenger seats, but none at the wheel. It’s possible they incorrectly used Tesla’s much-touted “Autopilot” feature. If so, did they die from their own folly, or from overhyped marketing? Electric Cars Are Not Carbon Neutral When They Burn…

Dozens of CEOs and other senior leaders conferred via Zoom this past weekend to explore responses to draft voting-law reforms in various U.S. states. The Zoom call followed Major League Baseball’s pulling its 2021 All Star Game from Atlanta in response to Georgia’s recent voting law. Voting access and voting integrity lie at the heart…

Want to test your ability to tell fact from opinion? Start by picking test maker who can. Slightly Better Than Guesswork A Pew Research Center survey asked just over 5,000 U.S. adults to categorize as either factual or opinion each of 10 statements relating to policy and current affairs. Researchers found that only one quarter…

A just society prizes equity. Seeking it — achieving it — require careful thought and effort. Unfortunately, that does not always happen. How can we prevent a concept as important as “equity” from devolving into a catchphrase? “I Put That S**t On Everything” One measure of a catchphrase is its memorability. Here, Frank’s Red Hot…

High-level deal making is an art. Now, some top entrepreneurs are partnering with a Nobel-winning contract theorist and other academics to combine art and theory into new best practices. How can we turn such innovation into advantage? In Deal Making, The Contract Comes Last And Least Deal making is too important to be left to…

Environmental impact has become a key metric for business ethics and governance. It’s also an issue that should concern everyone. Duty calls for digging into the numbers. Does recent data on electric vehicles (“EVs”) suggest that they will pull us back from the climate brink — or push us over it? What Time Does the…

US and UK prosecutors promise leniency for errant companies that have tried hard to comply and cooperated with investigators. When does a thumb on the scales do justice? Rethinking Collective Punishment for Individual Wrongdoing Regulators and prosecutors in the U.S. and U.K. face a quandary. Does justice require harsh penalties against a company (and its…

In a process as secretive as a papal conclave, involving only slightly less mystique, McKinsey’s senior partners refused Kevin Sneader a second term as CEO. Shareholder democracy has spoken. But what did it say? A Rare “One And Done” McKinsey & Company operates as unified global partnership. The firm’s approximately 650 senior partners elect the…

Some day soon, computers may convincingly mimic human empathy. Will this lead to ethical artificial intelligence, or synthetic sociopathy? A Turing Test for Ethical Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) Technologists and ethicists have started to explore the form and meaning of a Turing Test for Ethical AI. The Original Imitation Game — Can Machines Think? 20th century…

Warren Buffett tells his managers: “There’s plenty of money to be made in the center of the court. If it’s questionable whether some action is close to the line, just assume it is outside and forget it.” But what do you do when the lines shift? Who’s Sorry Now? McKinsey & Company, the world’s premier…

The new Administration’s commitment to Environmental, Social, and Governance (”ESG”) issues begs the question of a business’s end goals. We deserve an open and honest debate. Will we get one? Contending Theories of Corporate Purpose What should be a business’s end goal? Over the last 50 years, two competing approaches have duked it out. Dualism:…

De-platformed within a 24-hour span by Amazon, Apple, and Google, social-media service Parler tries to rise from the dead. What’s the direct and collateral damage of success or failure? Framing In setting norms, how an issue is framed goes a long way towards deciding it. Whoever wins the framing battle often wins the policy war.…

Upgraded Boeing 737 MAX commercial jets have returned to the skies. The blame game, however, goes on. Can we find a principle that cuts through the spin? Accidents Happen; Catastrophes Take Effort A total of 346 people died in two separate crashes of Boeing 737 MAX jets in October 2018 and March 2019. The crashes…

In a free market, when companies fight over customers, it’s the customers who should win. Will that happen here? The Apple-Facebook fight over user privacy heated up last week, with Facebook taking out full-page advertisements in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post. The ads proclaimed that Facebook was “standing up to Apple for…

By a 13-1 vote, an “independent expert” panel of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (”CDC”) just recommended who should enjoy priority for rollout of COVID vaccines. What would we do without experts? Two drug companies, Pfizer and Moderna, have requested and expect emergency approval of their COVID-19 vaccines. These companies estimate having…

Former Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh recently died in a house fire. He was 46. Hsieh was a man of many talents, ideas, and successes. The theme of his life was happiness: his employees’, his customers’, and his own. Here’s what we can learn from his example. A Dreamer Who Delivered The child of immigrants, Hsieh’s…

Five ex-Kodak executives collected millions of dollars selling stock options they didn’t own. Then the story gets worse. (Under)statement from Mr. Know-It-All In a press (under)statement, Kodak Finance Chief David Bullwinkle (yes, Bullwinkle) said that the company had discovered deficiencies in its controls that had failed to prevent the unauthorized issuance of the company’s stock.…

For managers, ethical behavior depends not just upon the decision itself, but the processes and the purposes behind the decision. Taking a Stand in Expensify’s Name Using company letterhead, Expensify’s CEO, David Barrett, sent 10 million users a sharply worded email encouraging them to vote for a particular Presidential candidate, and against another. Did Barrett…

Resembling fiddler crabs, senior Goldman executives seem to take with the giant claw, and to give back with the tiny one. A previous post described Goldman Sachs getting hit with over $5 billion in fines and disgorgement sanctions. These penalties relate to two senior Goldman bankers’ participation in a multi-billion-dollar bribery and embezzlement scheme. Taking…

There’s a dirty secret at the heart of corporate governance. Governance rules don’t create value. They only prevent it’s destruction. A business with perfect governance that doesn’t make money is worthless. So, how should we keep our eyes on the ball? What Makes a Business Valuable? A business is worth the returns it makes for…

The federal government just fined JP Morgan Chase $920 million. And that’s because the feds decided to go easy on the bank. Now, as part of the settlement, JP Morgan must adopt the anti-fraud methods of a Mob bookie and casino boss. “Spoofing” Markets through Bogus Orders JP Morgan traders unlawfully manipulated the market through…

Citigroup admitted to risk-management shortcomings and some compliance lapses. Federal regulators not only fined Citigroup $400 million but claimed authority over key staffing. Now the buck stops nowhere. This is bad for Citigroup. And for the rest of us. Bad Citigroup! Bad! Citigroup Board of Directors just signed off on consent orders. They admit “significant…

What makes us friends with somebody? Marriage v Friendship “Marriage” is an easier thing to understand. It is a civil contract and/or religious covenant with a defined beginning, defined rights and duties, and defined end. When entering or staying in a marriage, motives and conduct don’t matter. A person who got married for money or…