Toil and trouble No 4065 Set by J Seery
How do bad guys get to the top in business? Richard Olivier, son of Sir Laurence, decided to develop a leadership workshop to answer that question using “Macbeth” as his set text. Believing the play could also work for bankers, the former actor ran a version of his workshop during this year’s World Economic Forum at Davos. We asked you for what you thought the play has to tell the banking world about the global economic crisis
Report by Ms de Meaner
You took two tacks. First, those who merely drew conclusions from the plot overall. And second, those who quoted actual lines from the play and explained their meaning in Davos terms. Only one of you managed that successfully, I thought. The singletons get a £5 book token each. The rest get £20 apiece, the best of whom (Barry Baldwin) also gets the Tesco vouchers.
Heed warnings of whistleblowing doom-merchants, especially if they claim clairvoyant powers. Don’t take your business problems home and discuss them with your wife. Don’t think you are out of the woods because you’ve annihilated your main competitors. And it’s all going to get a helluva lot worse before it gets better.
Anne Du Croz
Avoid allowing an unelected, psychologically flawed Scot to run the country. Avoid allowing an unelected, psychologically flawed, back-stabbing Scot to run the country. Beware of approaching hedge funds. Blame it all on a power-crazed, obsessive-compulsive, amoral madwoman intent on running the country
(ie, it all started with Thatcherism). And, above all, don’t lose your head.
David Silverman
Colleagues who become obsessive about cleanliness should be let go.
M E Ault
Not having a Plan B can be fatal.
G M Davis
When even the trees turn on you, it’s best to get out fast.
D A Prince
No 4068 After you. No, after you
Set by J Seery
Watching classic serials on TV is said to improve people’s manners and behaviour in real life. Could we have an everyday conversation (for example, in a supermarket queue or a crowded Tube carriage), which has been influenced by watching, say, a serialisation of a Jane Austen or George Eliot novel.
Max 120 words by 19 March
Email: comp@newstatesman.co.uk
