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Way back in the pre-Cambrian era, I worked at Risk Management magazine on the heels of the Enron and Worldcom scandals. We ran a story about some research that suggested commodity trading, as a profession, was especially attractive to sociopaths. We got a lot hate mail from socoiopathic commodity traders on that one.
Today’s tech bros, re…
Way back in the pre-Cambrian era, I worked at Risk Management magazine on the heels of the Enron and Worldcom scandals. We ran a story about some research that suggested commodity trading, as a profession, was especially attractive to sociopaths. We got a lot hate mail from socoiopathic commodity traders on that one.
Today’s tech bros, really aren’t much different than those Enron-era commodity traders. Their business rewards sociopathy, which is why they can see something like surge pricing for food and think it’s a good idea. What they don’t understand is that among other things, all businesses require a social license to operate. Surge pricing for food isn’t illegal, but it revokes your social license, just like suggesting people eat cereal for breakfast. We shouldn’t be surprised Wendy’s pulled this - the three guys who own the vast majority of the company are essentially bankers cosplaying as restauranteurs. I doubt they could tell you ten of their own menu items off the tops of their heads.
This is fascinating, Bill. The whole Wendy's thing did seem more like a banker move than anything else, and it did sorta remind me of Enron, rolling blackouts and all. It makes sense that some industries would attract more sociopaths than others. That's the reward system, right? But the thing I wonder about with fast food is that there's another owner in the mix: the franchisee. I know corporate sets these policies, but the franchisee strikes me as someone who typically values hard work and prides themselves on knowing their customer. If surge pricing brings in a few extra bucks and nobody minds, I'm sure the franchisees will be happy. But if it burns down the brand in an Enronian blaze of glory, I'd imagine those franchisees would revolt.
Ah, very interesting.
I've been surrounded by entrepreneurs most of my life and I have to say, you really can't get very far playing by the rules. Some taxes dodged here, an account in the Cayman Islands there, a few hundred underpaid workers.
This is the reward incentive.
And it's rewarding all the bad things.