Why Power Corrupts….The Airport MBA…..The Sunk Cost Paradox and the New York Jets….The Year of the Affordable Care Act

  • January 28, 2013
  • Posted by: Stephen Johnson
  • Category: Vistage
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“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”

Abraham Lincoln

 Why Power Corrupts

Lord Acton remarked that “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”…. Or does it?   It’s often said that money brings out what is already inside people  (nice people become nicer….jerks become bigger jerks).  Could the same be true of power?  Learn more in this brief article “Why Power Corrupts.” which summarizes new research that power tends to enhance pre-existing ethical tendencies  (so hire nice people!).

The Airport MBA

Sometimes institutions serve society by helping us understand what not to do.  Marketing guru Seth Godin looks at a place most of us go only because it’s on the way to somewhere else and  shares Eleven Things Organizations Can Learn from Airports.  

The Sunk Cost Paradox and the New York Jets

If you went to business school, you were no doubt taught that sunk costs should be ignored in decision making.   Yet, in the real world,  too often good money is thrown after bad, especially if significant outlays have already been made and/or personnel decisions are involved.  The New York Jets have experienced both. Check out this story from the New Yorker on why even the sophisticated staff and management of the Jets are not immune from That Sunk Cost Feeling.

The Year of the Affordable Care Act

Whatever you think of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), it is the law of the land, and 2013 is the first year it will begin to seriously affect business owners.  While the Small Business Administration may be understandably over-the-top in support of all of the provisions of the bill, (even the ones we had to pass the law to discover) their website is an excellent source of information.  Check out “The Top Three Things Small Business Should Know” and “Timeline of the Affordable Care Act,” as well as the SBA Health Care Homepage.