Bingo! There is a place for reputation, but many times that is bought and manufactured (i.e. Carly Fiorina), when actual competency scares the crap out of them.

Wm did that once at USC. We were talking to the uber-folk there about their desire for a single healthcare information system. (We had our system at their reference lab at the time.) Wm said, "So: What universal Patient ID will you use? How will you synch up the various IDs that patient currently has in use on your separate systems?"

There was a look of dawning horror in their eyes - with all their impressive credentials, they had never thought to ask that key question. (No, we did not get the bid to be a main component in their restructuring. The fact that we knew what we were doing was outweighed by the fact that we were not sufficiently prestigious for them to deal with.)

Jan

I do love it when you are in a meeting and there is a hard problem, and you toss out "What if we" and everyone looks at you wide eyed like you were a prophet or something...common sense goes farther than a college degree...or Phd.

Good for you! - on both counts.

Jan

I'm really a bad negotiator in person (but good strategist).
In Korea it was a pride thing where we offered a novel solution solving a bunch of problems that the lead engineer hadn't done properly evaluated. This was his response when I proved it was right in front of his boss and the team. The translator was so embarrassed she didn't want to tell me, and was shocked when I laughed at the term.

"The Good Negotiator" == "The Swindler". Nice medal there, Thoritsu.

This reminds me of a story out of my mother's family's past. Apparently one of my mother's great-uncles was hung for horse-theivery. Our family refers to him as "The Good Provider". (He had 8 kids...)

Jan

All humor has a little truth in it.

For what it is worth, The South Koreans called me "the Swindler" in a meeting at a shipyard. I wear it like a medal!

That is devious.

Jan

That's just an inconvenient truth. ;)

Just another example of what happens when irrationality is the norm. A whole country ruled by insanity.

maybe he will kill off all of his subjects since they are all his enemies

You'd think the USA couldn't afford to print more money to give away to anyone.

http://www.usdebtclock.org/

Still so much nicer an enemy than ISIS. they are in one place and the leadership is known.

Let's give him the middle east. After he takes care of ISIS (don't doubt that he can), we'll just take it back. Like leaving you house when you use a bug bomb.

Yeah, but you can't train your soldiers against live targets as well!

(sick, twisted, SOB that he is).

And these are the same sick, twisted, murderers we pay food aid to every year.

Nope, the Korean scum obviously have more practice, they are just more costly to run. No points..

From the movie Maverick

"I keel everyting in sight... And eets booring me."

I've got an idea! Let's organize a war.

In this corner, the Pillsbury Doughboy and his Joseon horde. In the opposite corner, the bloodthirsty untermenschen of ISIS!

Give 'em each a half dozen or so short range tactical nukes, and at the bell, come out swinging.

I'll take the Korean scum if someone will give me 4 points.