Top Ten Business Myths, Part 2 (Myths 5-1). This episode is dedicated to the possibility that many myths exist about business and it would be better to rid ourselves of these ideas. Thinking about these myths is difficult because it requires us to examine some of our most deeply held beliefs and either dismiss them or at least think differently about them. If you are interested in challenging the conventional wisdom about these business myths, you are invited to listen to this episode of The Soul of Enterprise: Business in the Knowledge Economy, hosted by Ed Kless and Ron Baker.

Top Ten Business Myths, Part 1 (Myths 10-6). This episode is dedicated to the possibility that many myths exist about business and it would be better to rid ourselves of these ideas. Thinking about these myths is difficult because it requires us to examine some of our most deeply held beliefs and either dismiss them or at least think differently about them. If you are interested in challenging the conventional wisdom about these business myths, you are invited to listen to this episode of The Soul of Enterprise: Business in the Knowledge Economy, hosted by Ed Kless and Ron Baker.

Ed and Ron will explore the moral hazards of measurements. Exact measurements of the wrong things can drive out good judgments of the right things, imperiling our future. The illusion of certainty in our measurements creates, to borrow an important concept from the insurance industry, a moral hazard. If people are insured, they may just act carelessly and cause the very thing they are insured against. Fire insurance causes arson; unemployment insurance allows people to not be as diligent in finding a job. Our current cult of calculation, perpetuated by the infamous McKinsey maxim, What you can measure you can manage, creates the same type of risk, offering today’s business executives the illusion of control and mastery of knowledge. It allows them to substitute statistics for thinking. It gives them a false sense of security where there should exist more doubt.

This episode is dedicated to the possibility that the majority of leadership thinking is wrong as it is ultimate based on manipulation - trying to “get someone to do something.” Coming to terms with this idea is difficult and not for everyone because it requires us to examine some of our most deeply held beliefs and either dismiss them or at least think differently about them. If you are interesting in hearing a conversation about healing leadership, you are invited to listen in as Ed and Ron interview Howard Hansen and Steve Geske, coauthors of the groundbreaking book Healing Leadership: A Survival Guide for the Enlightened Leader.

Ed and Ron will explore the Corporate Social Responsibility movement, since even the most ardent defenders of capitalism seem to have contempt for businesspeople and entrepreneurs. An often-heard remark is: The problem with capitalism is capitalists. It appears capitalism suffers from a unique paradox, it's better in practice than it sounds in theory. Businesses are often praised for what they do worst, e.g., social work, fighting inflation, reducing welfare, and denounced for what they do best, e.g., create jobs, wealth, and goods and services people desire. Profits and social responsibility are not mutually exclusive goals. The business world instills, and requires, the practice of a number of virtues: diligence, industriousness, prudence in risk taking, reliability, kindness to strangers, customers, and fidelity in personal relationships. Are not these the same virtues parents try to teach their children?

We are excited to announce that Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman, Ogilvy Group UK, in London, will be our guest on August 29, for the entire show. Rory has delivered several TED talks, along with many others, including our favorite, a Zeitgeist talk at Google. They are all incredibly thought-provoking, and rooted in behavioral, and Austrian, economics. In his spare time, Rory collect self aggrandizing job titles. He was president of the Direct Jury at Cannes in 2007, and was elected President of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising in 2009 for two years, where his message was that advertising needed a better understanding of how humans work, not just how advertising works. Be sure to join us for what will be an exciting and exhilarating exchange of ideas.

On this show, Ron and Ed will explore how we humans are comprised of both Mr. Spock—our rational side—and Homer Simpson—our irrational side, and how to optimize decisions from both sides. Learn why economists assume people are “rational” even though, at times, this assumption seems to be false––e.g., why do we leaves tips in restaurants we will never visit again? Anyone who wants to gain a better understanding of human behavior, explore the ideas of the world’s most innovative economists, as well as engaging in a thought-provoking and stimulating discussion on a variety of everyday issues confronting people everywhere, will find this show interesting and valuable.

All businesses have a vested interest in virtue. Business is dependent on the moral and cultural institutions of a free society. The economic and ethical point of a business entity is to serve others. Business is a morally serious enterprise, in which it is possible to act either immorally or morally. It requires moral conduct to thrive in the long run. Yet business ethics means a great deal more than obeying the civil law and the various accountancy acts and regulations. It means imagining and creating a new sort of world based upon the principles of individual creativity, community, realism, and the other virtues that make up the spirit of enterprise. Ethical behavior of businesspeople is expected each and every day. Failure to follow ethical behavior jeopardizes your personal and professional future. What ethical obligations do you have to your customers, employer, team members, and outside stakeholders? Trolleyology, would you kill the fat man?

Why did the Industrial Revolution happen where and when it did? Our guest will be the Distinguished Professor of Economics Deirdre McCloskey, who teaches economics, history, English, and communication at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Ron and Ed will focus on her latest book, Bourgeois Dignity: Why Economics Can’t Explain the Modern World (2010), which argues that it was an ideological change, rather than saving or exploitation, that made us rich. The book is the second in a widely noticed trilogy on The Bourgeois Era. The first was The Bourgeois Virtues: Ethics for an Age of Commerce (2006), asking if a participant in a capitalist economy can still have an ethical life (briefly, yes). Join us for what is sure to be a fascinating conversation with one of the country’s leading economic thinkers.

Do you know anyone who was motivated going into, or coming out of, their annual performance appraisal? Most organizations and employees are dissatisfied with the performance appraisal process, so it remains a curiosity why this methodology continues to exist. Performance appraisals don’t improve performance and they don’t drive careers; they are an incidental effect of other dynamic systems. In essence, appraisals are the paper-shuffling ritual that sanctifies decisions already made. Ed and Ron will discuss why it’s a legal myth that performance appraisals protect you from litigation; and why appraisals instinctively focuses on weaknesses, not strengths. We will also provide three replacements for the annual performance appraisal: Peter Drucker’s Manager’s letter; After Action Reviews; and Key Predictive Indicators.