5 ms·
I found this article hard to follow. I feel like there's a deliberate coyness and "buildup" but it's way too playful for what it is and all but guarantees the "
by theprotocol 8y ago
I found this article hard to follow. I feel like there's a deliberate coyness and "buildup" but it's way too playful for what it is and all but guarantees the "payoff" ends up falling short of expectations, which it does. The playfulness is distracting.
The supposed payoff is semantical nonsense, where the manager who agrees to deliver on the request doesn't explicitly specify that the cost would go up. But that's only because it's related as a summary, and in a real conversation, costs would be discussed.
- george_morgan 8y agoIt's a really bizarre bit of writing in general. I'm oddly bothered by how much this guy hates breakfast, without actually explaining why. > “A sales breakfast for seven hundred people?” I grimaced. “That’s downright disgusting!” What.
- golemotron 8y agoThis is something called 'banter.' It was common in speech and writing in the 19th to 20th century. Find dramas or comedies from the middle 1980s and watch them. It's good for cultural literacy, especially if you're going to encounter writing from that period.
- HeyLaughingBoy 8y agoUpvoted, giggling all the way.
- fjsolwmv 8y agoThanks for explaining why I hated _The Goal_, 2 pages of business advice ("Try kaizen and supply chain optimization") wrapped in a Twilight-esque padding of alcoholism, loveless marriage, and parenting.
- mannykannot 8y agoIt is just part of the padding needed to fill out a one-paragraph idea into an article.
- JdeBP 8y agoIt's not actually an article at all, but is rather an excerpt from a book, from 1985.
- oarsinsync 8y agoGiven the relation to "business lunch" in their conversation, I suspect it's down to asking 700 staff to give up their morning with their families, setting up their day with their regular morning routine, and instead spend that time at work. I don't think he hates breakfast, I think he hates having to give up his breakfast to be at work.
- user5994461 8y agoThat doesn't explain why they hate sales lunch so much.
- oarsinsync 8y agoGiving up your lunch break (emphasis on break) from work to carry on working is in the same ballpark.
- logfromblammo 8y agoSeven hundred salespeople in the same room is already a crime against humanity waiting to happen.
- Timpy 8y ago>> “So how does it work?” I know this is supposed to be a parable, but it reads like a script from an infomercial
- kgwgk 8y agoTell me more!
- redisman 8y agoAs a {consumerDemography} I find {product} to be really {expletive}!
- mcintyre1994 8y agoIt reads a lot like the style of a fake conversation written as a sample piece for a "buy fake content for content marketing" startup on HN recently. I'm sure it's unrelated, but it definitely feels like the same style of writing to me.
- ryandrake 8y agoThe entire article could have been two sentences.
- mooneater 8y agoSadly typical writing style for business self help.