Another non-environmental wonder

Rare are the times a comment on Amazon is worth reading, but this one is a gem of a response to Stanford professor Jeffrey Pfeffer's new book 'Power: Why Some People Have It and Others Don't' (hint - if the title doesn't appeal, you're probably not the right audience for the book):

"The book promises to tell you about the 'real' nature of leadership opportunities...if you want to garner power, it's more important to play the game than to perform well. Which, I guess I actually agree with to a large degree, but that's only news to an academic."

Zing!

Another non-environmental wonder

Great news for investors in defense giant BAE Systems - there's not one, but five reasons to believe the company will enjoy a thriving 2014 in the U.S. Front and center is what Forbes calls its positioning in 'above-average growth potential' areas, including 'digital electronics and cybersecurity'.

Surely no coincidence given the staggering scope of government surveillance programs in the U.S. and beyond, which has more publicly accountable brands from Facebook to Apple, Google and Microsoft 'up in arms' (not literally, unlike BAE), and even the outgoing chief of the NSA itself calling for limits.

Gem of the day

Chevron's theory of change: resist all progress because it won't make any difference, and the status quo will do us all some good. Example - carbon legislation in California, courtesy of EVP Downstream Michael Wirth (via Reuters):

"It's a cost, frankly, that Chevron can't absorb...No matter how big and successful we are, we can't absorb that cost. We'd have to pass that onto consumers...California, by itself, cannot change the (global) inventory of greenhouse gases," Wirth said.

Another non-environmental wonder

More proof that possessing slightly sociopathic qualities goes a long way towards surviving the corporate ladder, courtesy of Apple CEO Tim Cook (via Gawker):

"Cook once dispatched an underling straight from a meeting at Apple headquarters in Cupertino to the airport bound for China, without time even to pack a change of clothes or figure out a return date. 'Why are you still here?' was Cook's goodbye, delivered in the middle of the meeting."

Gem of the day

Just one of the many gems in this week's New Yorker piece on the long-suffering global project to build the world's first nuclear fusion machine, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, or ITAR - and there's more than a little relevance here to what it's like trying to push sustainability through big companies:

'"This project is supposed to be about hope, but fear runs rampant within it,' the scientist said. 'Efforts are made on many levels to hide the problems, in part because people believe the situation can’t be remedied, and in part because some of the decision-makers will be dead by the time the big red button is pushed.'"