Corporate leadership and the giant sucking sound

By the way, more about that song: Air Canada commissioned it as its new theme song for its 'relaunch' three years ago.

I'm currently experiencing redundancy (a.k.a. layoff) for the first time, as a result of some corporate cost-cutting cleverness. They're closing our whole office, which is one of the most productive development centres in one of the fastest-growing business segments.

Sales of software are down, you see, but not for any obvious reason. A good executive might ask himself why. Is there some change in the economy? Perhaps we're not making the right kind of software? Perhaps the sales or marketing departments need to rethink something? Fire some executives? Fire some sales and marketing guys?

Solution: Fire the developers, 'cause they cost a lot (and of course, many more will quit, as being one of the remaining developers continues its downward spiral of sucking). The point is, it'll help the bottom line, and the stock price next quarter, and that's what really matters according to our CEO in a recent conference call. So what happens in a year or two, when the software product falls behind the competition, because the company has lost its best and most experienced developers? What happens when sales start to drop for a good reason? Gun. Foot. Open fire. Trust me, by then Mr. CEO will already have bailed out with the help of his golden parachute.

Segue back to Air Canada, Celine Dion, and the sound of sucking. Imagine you're the CEO, and other airlines are eating your lunch. Canadians nickname you 'MapleFlot' because your service stinks. Other airlines are cheaper and better, and customers love them. Your airline has just managed to scrape itself out of bankruptcy by cost-cutting staff salaries, among other things. So what do you do next? Obviously you repaint your planes and pay Celine Dion millions of dollars ($20 million, I heard) to sing for a marketing campaign. For added impact, force the passengers to watch the video when they're on the plane. This is bound to help.

Even sporting lipstick, it's still a pig.

I didn't go to business school, but why not try making a better product?