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In it he found that any dollar spent on CEOs (or any other executive) above $2 million - even for Fortune 500 firms - is not only completely unrelated to performance; but is actually counterproductive.

Dan Price and the other good folks at Gravity Payments could show the way to real competitiveness for many bloated, top-heavy corporations these days - but of course competitiveness is no longer what today's CEOs care about any more. Just making sure they have more billions than the CEO sitting next to them in some Swiss ski resort.

It's completely disconnected from any rational concepts like value or performance.

I knew a few VPs in my time in the corporate world, and every last one of them - both male and female - had no intention of sticking around past their first stock vesting period. We used to joke about the ridiculous number of VPs we had, many of whom were Vice President of Nothing.

We even had a VP of Executive Compensation, who invariable recommended that - wait for it - executive compensation needed to be increased.

They became so brazen that they didn't even try to hide that they were there to loot the place.

And the CEO was the biggest crook of them all. In quarters where we lost tens of millions of $$$ and had thousands of layoffs, he'd get these multimillion dollar bonuses for doing such a great job. He collected his quarterly bonuses right up to when they shuttered the place and laid off 8,000 people.

Corporate America is so fucking broken that we're the laughingstock of the world.

... 'The Peter principle is a concept in management theory formulated by Laurence J. Peter in which the selection of a candidate for a position is based on the candidate's performance in their current role, rather than on abilities relevant to the intended role. Thus, employees only stop being promoted once they can no longer perform effectively, and "managers rise to the level of their incompetence." ' ...
[link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_principle|

... in the book, Peter describes the corporate structure of the Bendix Corporation as an inverted pyramid ...

... they had 23 vice-presidents ...

employee population of about 8,000.

arriving at Chrysler and learning that they had 34 VPs. Well, he called each and every one of them in for an interview and asked them what function they performed.

When he was finished, Chrysler had 2 VPs; Engineering and Manufacturing.

He figured, we design and build cars. If you're not involved in either one of those activities, you're deadweight.

I always wished he'd run for President.

I have seen disgusting expense reports. Incredible charges for living large that were passed off to the company as legitimate business expenses & bosses not even questioning it. I've worked mostly in finance, so we saw it all. It was demoralizing to see some of the things the company let pass & then you get a 3% raise.

We had VPs who had luxury condominiums spread out all over the country, 100% paid for by the company. The company would buy a number of high-rise suites near each design center so that they would not have to suffer the indignities of a hotel while traveling.

Meanwhile, we went five years without a raise.

The funny thing is, I wouldn't even begrudge the salary and benefits package these folks got, if only they did something for a living. But they were the most talentless, indecisive, waffling, clueless bunch of business school graduates you ever saw. They could not make a decision on anything, except that they needed more more more for themselves.

People love to rag on the Chinese, the Mexicans, and whoever the fuck else, for the decline in American industry, but a lot of it lies squarely in our own ranks of selfish and incompetent managers.

I believe that after WWII, we had a generation of business leaders that understood hard work and shared sacrifice. But the baby boomer generation has really dropped the ball.

often hire more Directors & VPs afterwards. Most companies I've worked for are top heavy with management.

Too many queens, not enough drones.

Reminds me of a scene from Fletch...

Fletch: (trying to gather intel in a medical office) "It's OK, Frieda sent me."

Woman: "Who is Frieda?"

Fletch: "My secretary."

Woman: "Well who are you?"

Fletch: "Frieda's boss."

..and they are laughing all the way to the bank.