How McKinsey Destroyed the Middle Class: Wit and a lack of wisdom - Learning, Unlearning, and Relearning

 How McKinsey Destroyed the Middle Class Atlantic

 FWIW, when I was at McKinsey and neoliberalism was only starting to take hold in policy circles and society at large, cost-cutting studies, which largely amounted to firing people since salaries are the biggest component of costs plus many costs key off headcount, were unpopular with staff and not well thought of by a considerable majority of partners either. From the worker-bee standpoint, the studies were cookie cutter (so you didn’t get career points for being a good problem solver) and dispiriting to execute. Partners similarly looked down on the mechanical nature of this work and pragmatically also believed that McKinsey firing employees would create McKinsey opponents wherever the defenestrated workers eventually landed. So the firm then only took them with some reluctance, when the economy was crappy, clients wanted them done and McKinsey needed the work. Needless to say, how times have changed. 

It is key to remember that McKinsey’s business models had long been to take emerging new practices, such as going from functionally-focused organizations to product-focused one, or internationalization, finding their so-called “best practices” and using that to accelerate their uptake. So it’s not hard to see how McKinsey came to operate as a force multiplier for neoliberalism. 

Where is the Party of the Working Class? Les Leopold

‘It’s totally unhinged’: is the book world turning against Goodreads?

The Guardian: “The influential user review site has suffered a year of controversies, from cancelled book deals to review-bombing, and exposed a dark side to the industry.”

“Find News Sources on Wikipedia and Search Them Via Google With Non-Sketchy News Search. When you search Google News, you’re trusting that all the sources included in your results are legitimate. Often that’s the case, but there are a lot of bad actors trying to poison Google’s search results with disinformation, propaganda sites, and other such garbage. 

Non-Sketchy News Search uses SPARQL to find media outlets on Wikipedia by keyword, then bundles them into a Google search. Presence in Wikipedia does not guarantee legitimacy, of course, but at least you know what sources are being searched. Start by keyword searching for news outlets (do not use quotes). Try searching for a place (Baltimore) or a topic (business) or a language (Ukrainian)…”

       May-Brit Akerholt profile 

       At The Guardian Xenia Hanusiak profiles one of Jon Fosse's translators, May-Brit Akerholt -- who has translated: "34 of his plays, three books of poetry, two novels and his essays" (e.g. An Angel Walks Through the Stage) --, in ‘I cried, I danced to Springsteen’: in Australia, a Nobel laureate’s translator celebrates their win. 

       Meanwhile, at El País Sergio C. Fanjul has a Q & A with the Nobel laureate, Jon Fosse, winner of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature: ‘I prefer to live in the most boring way possible’.

Learning, Unlearning, and Relearning

Jason Kottke 

This is a quote I like that’s attributed to Alvin Toffler from his 1970 book, Future Shock:

The illiterate of the twenty-first century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.

It turns out that’s not a direct quote — it’s been cobbled together from two separate passages in the book:

By instructing students how to learn, unlearn and relearn, a powerful new dimension can be added to education.

and:

Psychologist Herbert Gerjuoy of the Human Resources Research Organization phrases it simply: “The new education must teach the individual how to classify and reclassify information, how to evaluate its veracity, how to change categories when necessary, how to move from the concrete to the abstract and back, how to look at problems from a new direction — how to teach himself. Tomorrow’s illiterate will not be the man who can’t read; he will be the man who has not learned how to learn.”

Somewhere along the line, someone combined Gerjuoy’s observation with Toffler’s phrasing to create, IMHO, a more insightful quote about the flexibility their future (and our present) requires.

For more misattributed quote debunking, see also “I Hate to Write, but I Love Having Written” and Where the Rich Use Public Transportation…

SEC’s new data breach disclosure rules take effect

TechCrunch – What you need to know: “Starting December 18, publicly-owned companies operating in the U.S. must comply with a new set of rules requiring them to disclose “material” cyber incidents within 96 hours. 

The regulation represents a significant shake-up for organizations, many of which have argued that the new rules open them up to more risk and that four days isn’t enough time to confirm a breach, understand its impact, or coordinate notifications. Regardless, those that don’t comply — whether a newly-listed organization or a company that has been publicly owned for decades — could face major consequences courtesy of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).”

Wit and a lack of wisdom

Readers have taken Joe Goozeff (C8) and his mates at The Quote Investigator to task regarding just what is the lowest form of wit, and it certainly doesn’t look like it’s the humble pun. “Punny you should mention it,” says Meri Will of Northmead. “I thought sarcasm was the lowest form of wit.” Josephine Piper of Miranda and Dave Horsfall of North Gosford agree and, possibly still reflecting on the gang at the ’gator, Kerry Kyriacou of Strathfield asks, “Do two halfwits make a wit?”

Peter Gaydon of Warrawee was amused by the dentist’s name, Dr Ha, “not for the laughing gas quip but that in Japanese the word for tooth is ‘ha’.”

In the search for closure, we’re switching medical professions thanks to Mila Yates of Valentine: “When my daughter was very sick many years ago she was referred to paediatric surgeons Drs Reid and Wright. Perhaps they should have been teachers. Also, some years ago while my husband and I were travelling around the country, I had a serious medical turn was and taken to Royal Darwin Hospital where Dr Death treated me with much comfort and care.” Roma McDonald of South Maroubra has also dealt with Dr Death, but that was in Sydney.

“I met my anaesthetist in readiness for a second operation using his services,” writes Cecily Chittick of Wyong. “I coyly asked him if I could have a frequent flyer discount. His reply was simply that his patients were usually just pleased to wake up. He would know better than me on that one, so I promptly paid. We both smiled at each other post operation.”

“On the subject of parks with rotundas (C8), there’s a special one in Cabarita Park,” says Maureen Casey of Breakfast Point. “In 1903 Concord Council purchased the dilapidated Federation Pavilion which had been installed in Centennial Park for the official Federation celebrations in 1901. After many years of restoration, the rotunda, now listed on the Heritage Register, still stands proudly in beautiful Cabarita Park, admired by locals and visitors as well as being a great location for weddings and special events.”

Time for some tautology (C8) revision, going by the recent (correct) comments made by Alan Eason of Miami (Qld). Lesson 1: “No, ‘Royal Princess’ is not a tautology. Royal is a redundant modifier.” Lesson 2: “‘Past history’ is not a tautology. Past is also a redundant modifier.”

Column8@smh.com.au

Granny can’t help thinking that Joe Goozeff of Leura is trying to tell her something: “The Quote Investigator recently researched the origin of the phrase ‘A pun is the lowest form of wit.’ One contribution, from 1912, was: She: ‘A pun is the lowest form of wit.’ He: ‘Therefore the foundation of all humour.’ She: ‘Yes, but it takes a bore to sink it to its proper level.’ I thought you would like to know.”