In a now well-publicized buttocks kicking, Jon Stewart ripped Jim Cramer and CNBC apart on his news show. He covers a lot in the segment (video embedded below), using his trademark intellect and wit, but in essence he points to CNBC as a group that has self-anointed themselves as financial market experts yet did not see the market tsunami coming nor really held accountable the people they have access to, e.g., the CEOs they converse with. At one point, Stewart calls Cramer a “snake oil salesman” and Cramer agrees. Interesting. more

Among the many associations that come to mind when you mention New Jersey, one of the more favorable is that of pharmaceutical capital of the nation. Michigan has its automobiles, Texas its oil, and California its technology. And for some time, New Jersey has been regarded by many as the “Nation’s Medicine Chest” or even more boldly the “Pharma Capital of the World.”

But New Jersey’s dominance in the pharmaceutical realm has been slipping, and recent events suggest that its dominance has now moved from a slow demise to an accelerated demise stage unless some actions are taken. The title contender, or perhaps new heavyweight champion of pharma, appears to be California. hrow a highly innovative Massachusetts and its robust research corridor into the mix, and the picture looks even bleaker for New Jersey.

Why the poor diagnosis for New Jersey pharma?

It’s worth noting that this decline is not something new. As Ted Sherman reports in the NJ Star Ledger, one in five pharmaceutical jobs used to be in the Garden State. That ratio is now in one in seven. Sherman reports that “California now has a bigger share of the nation’s pharmaceutical jobs, with New Jersey dropping from 20.3 percent in 1990 to about 14 percent today.” The Garden State has been trimming pharma jobs for some time. more

Twitter’s growth as of late has been nothing short of super fast — Usain Bolt fast. Mashable reports its recent growth at 1,382 percent and TechCrunch reports a 55 percent month-over-month growth rate in the Feb vs. Jan ‘09 timeframe.

The recent media coverage has definitely helped Twitter grow like a weed. You’ve seen the folks on CNN or NBC or wherever have the same conversation.

“Do you Twitter?,”"What is Twitter?,” etc.

After a brief overview, they usually close with the same, obligatory newscaster joke with one person asking, “So what do you call someone who Twitters?” To which the other person at the desk says, “A twit,” and they then share a hearty chuckle at their wit and ingenuity.

But not everyone is so happy about Twitter’s growth, and that person is Coach Scott Skiles of the Milwaukee Bucks. Per Fox Sports:

Bucks forward Charlie Villanueva got a talking-to from Skiles after the coach learned Villanueva posted a message to his Twitter feed — a “tweet” — from his mobile phone during halftime of Sunday’s home victory over Boston.

“We made a point to Charlie and the team that it’s nothing we ever want to happen again,” Skiles said after practice Tuesday. “You know, we don’t want to blow it out of proportion. But anything that gives the impression that we’re not serious and focused at all times is not the correct way we want to go about our business.”

Using the screen name “CV31″ — Villanueva’s initials and jersey number — Villanueva posted the following message during halftime Sunday:

“In da locker room, snuck to post my twitt. We’re playing the Celtics, tie ball game at da half. Coach wants more toughness. I gotta step up.”

So what do folks think? Is tweeting at halftime taking things a bit too far or distracting? Distractions aside, it’s a great way to engage with fans and give them an insider’s view into the locker room. Perhaps Skiles could get the guys on the bench who have no chance of playing to tweet instead?

In general, are social media like Twitter, Facebook, etc., a hindrance or help in the workplace? ###

Some time ago, The Wall Street Journal had a great piece about the increasing use of the term “headwind.” As the Journal points out, “To hear executives tell it, headwinds are to blame for the weak sales of cars, tires, paint, and books. Just what are these headwinds? Everything from high-fuel prices to slow foot traffic in handbag stores to rising newsprint costs.”

And everyone is getting into the headwind act, sprinkling the term in their addresses to analysts, shareholders, et al. Users include Rick Wagoner, CEO of GM; Jerry Yang, CEO of Yahoo; and G. Kennedy Thompson, CEO of Wachovia, among others.

The term itself is not very interesting. It’s sort of intuitive in its meaning. What is interesting, however, is how organizations talk about these headwinds as a way to seemingly absolve themselves of accountability. GM has been doing mediocre while some of their foreign competitors are holding up OK, right? Are they not facing the same “headwinds”? Or perhaps their headwinds are weaker because they execute and innovate better? What about Google as compared to Yahoo?

At the same time, when the market or economy is doing well, how many of these CEOs will speak about a tailwind helping them out? When things are good, it is generally a cocktail of genius, innovation, our people, products, and “customer-centricity” which drive this. It’s not the fact that the market is growing at 5 percent or 10 percent and we’re just rising with the tide. And even though we may know that is the case, we’d rather take credit and attribute the successes to our management prowess.

I’m undecided. Are headwinds really the problem or just hot air? ###

The best definition I’ve heard of a business case is that “It’s the lies people tell to get funding.” And that is the truth.

Growth is high and expenses are low, leading to unreasonable expectations in the majority of business cases. So what is the key to reducing the lies that people present in business cases?

It comes down to tracking what they deliver, e.g., benefits realization, tracking actuals, etc. Roger Goodell, commissioner of the National Football League, has a good suggestion on this. When talking about the New England Patriots videotaping opponents’ signals, he stated,

“The most important thing is to take decisive action. We discovered that they were taping the signals of visiting coaches, which is against our rules, and we made very clear that it was not going to be permitted. [Patriots coach Bill Belichick was fined $500k and the team was fined $250k and denied a draft pick.] Sending a message that you’re going to enforce the rules is the best way to deal with integrity and make sure that our fans understand that games are going to be played by the rules.”

When it comes to investments in projects and initiatives, companies rarely hold folks accountable, ensuring that the cycle of lies and rosy projections continues. Instead, they should take a page from Roger Goodell and reward those who deliver and “punish” those who don’t. The punishment can take the form of reduced funding going forward, greater oversight, or even diminished responsibilities or dismissal. Only by doing this will you ensure that people come with their best ideas and are incentivized to put forward their best ideas and deliver per their business case. ###