David's Journal: You Probably Had a Better Week Than Ron Johnson

Saturday, April 13, 2013

You Probably Had a Better Week Than Ron Johnson

AN APPLE A DAY KEEPS THE CUSTOMERS AWAY

Tired of the "bad Apple" puns yet? Surely Ron Johnson is. After an epic battle over brand differentiation versus price, Johnson was booted as CEO of JC Penney. Many of the "juicy" details (oh, I couldn't help myself) be found in this New York Times analysis, which begins with Johnson sweeping into his role "a star" and leaving after alienating what seems like most of the corporation and customers. What went so wrong? Sure, a few anonymous sources described his management style as condescending, but much of the problem comes from the page Johnson took from the successful Apple playbook: not testing any of his new ideas. While this is common at Apple — "customers don't always know what they want" — the strategy backfired at JC Penney. Shoppers were inundated with the message that they "deserve to look better" — but who (other than Johnson) says they looked bad in the first place? (For a smart, albeit different take, our own Gardiner Morse analyzes "What Ron Johnson Got Right.")

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE CUBICLE WALL

Hirable Like Me (Kellogg Insight)

Most managers would like to think they base their hiring decisions on candidates’ skill. But new research suggests that once a candidate passes through an initial HR screening, a bigger factor comes into play: how similar the interviewee is to the person doing the hiring. Kellogg School of Business assistant professor Lauren Rivera spent nine months embedded in a professional service organization and noted three key reasons why this takes place: the "Will this person fit in?" question; the fact that people define merit on the basis of their own experiences; and that managers get excited by candidates who have similar passions and interests. Hiring managers forget that "there are other ways people can a) be likeable and b) be socially skilled other than being a mirror image," Rivera says.

NOW YOU HAVE MORE TIME TO WORK ON YOUR BENCH PRESS

Brain Games are Bogus (New Yorker)

Sad news for anyone who relies on a "Please make me smarter" iPhone app the way a spelling bee contestant relies on flash cards. Two European scientists recently analyzed 23 studies about the effectiveness of such brain training; their conclusion is that playing cognitive games makes you really good at cognitive games, but not necessarily good at anything else. Gareth Cook runs through a host of other studies, which all echo the finding in different ways. While this may not be a huge deal to the casual Luminosity user (aside from the 10 minutes or so you could actually be doing something productive), the stakes are much higher for people who really need memory help: children with learning disabilities, people with brain injuries, and seniors with diminishing memory capacity. The fear is that companies catering to these groups might be peddling much more than a product that doesn't work very well: discouragement and false hope.

WHO DO YOU CALL?

Lonely at the Top: Being a Lady Boss Without Mentors (The Cut)

You’re a woman. You're 29. You suddenly have the word "executive" in your title. Who do you turn to for advice on managing others (and, for that matter, yourself)? No one, writes journalist Ann Friedman. "Even though I’d been working with professional women for about a decade," she writes about becoming a boss two years ago, "I failed to come up with even one mentor-type figure I felt like calling up for advice." Friedman, in a truly personal way, walks you through exactly what went through her head — from pondering the socioeconomic reasons she didn't have a mentor to what, exactly, her proper "I'm managing others" attire should be. It's a reminder that when it comes to women in leadership, the relationships necessary for tackling the "particularly thorny issues" women face are still, for many, sorely lacking.

GO AHEAD, STRESS YOURSELF OUT

Putting Things Off Isn't Always Inefficient or Unproductive (Quartz)

Turns out it's possible to harness your tendency to procrastinate and turn it into a productivity tool (really). A study of a cohort of highly intelligent people showed that some of them use procrastination as a way to trigger just the right level of stress needed to ignite positive action. Others use procrastination as a "thought incubator" that allows their brains to process ideas unconsciously, according to Quartz. Some people are even able to use their procrastination time to take care of other responsibilities, such as going through their to-do lists. —Andy O'Connell

BONUS BITS