The Economist pleaded that top executives demonstrate a modicum of sanity:

• The World Economic Forum lists 14 things that successful people should do before breakfast. They include working on a personal project like a novel, having pre-dawn sex, and networking.
• 90% of executives say they wake before 6am on weekdays. PepsiCo’s CEO says she gets up at 4am.
• A surprising number go to the gym in the morning – and while working out they read, make phone calls, and maybe watch a little TV.
• Others like to take time off to climb mountains and fly fighter jets.
• Business magazines run articles such as “how to train like a Navy SEAL”.
• Companies are also increasingly building lavish gyms for their employees to use.
• Less officially some top employees are said to be experimenting with drugs that help increase focus.
• There is evidence that boards of directors are coming to expect this kind of over-performance – and using fitness trackers to ensure that their executives are staying active.
• People need to calm down a little. Top executives are no good if they’re going to show up to work exhausted.
• Moreover, over-working doesn’t prove that you’re a great boss – it shows that you’re incapable of delegating.
• And anyway, a company whose success depends on one super-human CEO probably won’t do well for long anyway.

Read more here.

Source: The Economist

Eat your hearts out, Siri, Cortana, and Google Now. A new phone in (Ghanaian) town(s) is garnering all the attention according to Emmanuel Quartey:

• The phone pictured above costs about $25, and, believe it or not, is as thick as it looks. And it’s all the rage in Ghana.
• Part of the popularity seems to be that in blackout prone Ghana, the phone can act as a power bank to charge other electronics such as .mp3 players and more upscale phones.
• Its battery also means that the phone can go a week without being charged, meaning that it is an effective backup phone.
• The phone has a built in torch light, further increasing its usefulness during blackouts.
• Despite not having a touchscreen the phone comes with Facebook pre-installed, and is helping to increase internet penetration in Ghana.
• Its distinctive and bulky form factor maybe part of the reason it’s doing so well – people instantly recognize it, helping spread its popularity.

Read more about the phone and the mysteries that surround it, as well as the lessons the phone holds for businesses looking to sell in emerging markets over here.

Source: Quartz

Mint is associated with fresh breath. It’s an entirely artificial association writes Joseph Stromberg:

• The first mouthwashes and toothpastes contained ingredients like gillyflower, ginger, and cinnamon.
• The person responsible for getting Americans to brush every day – the maker of Pepsodent – wanted to use behavioural conditioning to make people feel good about brushing their teeth.
• To that end he added mint oil – which generated a tingly feeling in the mouth – to toothpaste. Every time people brushed they were “rewarded” with that tingly feeling.
• That feeling soon came to be associated with freshness – even though it is entirely artificial. While mint oil makes your mouth feel cooler it doesn’t actually clean anything in your mouth by itself.
• Listerine noted the brilliance of the strategy and pumped its mouthwash full of menthol – a chemical that produced a similar cooling effect.
• Listerine also launched a marketing campaign that told people that they would be social outcasts if they had bad breath.
• The campaign was a success and sales of Literine exploded.
• Now everybody associates the feeling of mint oil and menthol with mouth freshness, a relationship that reinforces itself.

Read about the differences between mint and menthol and the history of toothpaste and mouthwash in the United States over here.

Source: Vox

Stephen Evans wrote about a company that has come up with an odd strategy to bring down South Korea’s high suicide rate:

• Employees watch videos of people who have overcome adversity – such as a terminal cancer patient enjoying their last few days of life.
• They are then asked to don white robes and write farewell letters to their families.
• Then they get inside their coffins and hug a picture of themselves.
• Someone dressed as the Angel of Death (artist’s impression depicted above) then bangs the coffin shut.
• While inside employees are meant to reflect on the meaning of life and learn to appreciate it.

Read what the employees thought about this, and how this ties into wider South Korean work and study culture here.

Source: BBC

Via: Marginal Revolution

The writers at Cracked took a look at blue collar jobs that continue to open a pathway to living the American dream:

• Hot dog vendors average $100,000 a year – this is particularly surprising considering how little cooks, after years of expensive training, make these days.
• In fact, vendors in a high traffic location can pull in $1,200 in a just one weekend.
• Skycaps – those who help with curbside luggage check ins, boarding pass distribution, and general airport direction handling – often make more than airplane pilots.
• Their wages are actually pretty low, but they make as much as $120,000 in tips. Some don’t even bother cashing in their paychecks because the hourly wages aren’t worth it.
• Brand new golf balls can cost $50, and hundreds of millions of balls are lost in lakes and rivers each year. Divers who go into retrieve the balls can re-sell them to earn $100,000 a year.
• The job isn’t risk-free though – they have to worry about alligators and snakes in the water.

Lift mechanics and longshoremen are also on the list. You can find it here.

Source: Cracked

Come the holiday season metropolitan cities like New York are filled with street vendors selling Christmas Trees. Andy Bankin interviewed some of the merchants:

• Pricing for trees is exponential – a tree twice as big may cost four times as much.
• The only real way to get a discount is to ask the vendor to show you the reject less-than-perfect trees.
• The tree sellers are there 24 hours. They have no place to store them at night so they’re always around to keep watch and make late night sales.
• The salespeople who sell the trees are seasonal workers. In the summers they may fan across the United States to work on farms. Selling trees is good business since there’s little else open work in the winter.
• Contrary to popular perception the vendors don’t just have a single stock of trees they go through. Multiple deliveries of new trees are made every day.
• If you want the freshest supply go early in the morning. Deliveries usually happen at night, when traffic is low.
• You may also want to get to know your tree salesperson. They’re likely to return to the same spot year after year.

Read more about the Hanukkah Bush, some of the weirdest things that the vendors have seen, and behaviours that they appreciate over here.

Source: Hopes and Fears

Nathan Hubbard looked at the success of Adele’s most recent album and what it says about the wider music industry:

• 25, Adele’s latest album, sold 25 million copies in its first week, breaking the all-time record.
• This is particularly surprising considering that a decade ago everybody thought that services like Napster would be the death of paid albums.
• Sales were helped along by Adele’s decision to prevent the album from being aired on streaming sites, forcing fans to purchase it.
• The album’s success has had a wider impact on the industry. Rihanna has delayed the release of her latest album given the amount of attention that 25, and even Taylor Swift’s world tour, are taking.
• Unlike Hollywood there is no male-female pay gap in the music industry. In fact, females seem to dominate the business.
• This puts them in a position of power over record labels, promoters, merchandizers, and many others who directly and indirectly benefit from the industry.
• Yet the future of music seems a little bleak for the consumer. We saw with the movie business that exclusivity deals meant that the best movies were scattered among a plethora of streaming services like Netflix and Hulu.
• Similarly you’ll likely need subscriptions to services like Spotify, Tidal, as well as the offerings of tech companies such as Apple music and Microsoft Groove, to listen to all your favourite music.
• Things also look bleak for live performances. A ticket to Demi Lovato’s performance a year from now has a headline price of $49.95. Just as you pay for the ticket though, a $13.50 service charge is slapped on, raising the final price by 31%.
• Venues have their hands tied. Quite often touring deals will require that artists be paid more than 100% of gross ticket revenue. Venues make their money from concessions, sponsorships, and other associated services.
• The industry’s best hope is if musicians band together and demand a better experience for fans – perhaps after being prodded through social media.

The full article is a thoughtful analysis of the past, present, and future of the music industry. It includes musings on what the Paris terror attacks mean for musicians, and why musicians, unlike other entertainers, have found it so hard to co-ordinate. You should read it here.

Source: Medium

Via: Marginal Revolution

Walt Hickey looked at the post Star Wars careers of actors that appeared in the iconic movies:

• All in all, being in Star Wars is bad for an actor’s career. 36% of the cast of episodes I-VI never acted again, and many of those who did only went on to make a couple movies.
• Actors who were associated with the Jedi or the Rebellion went on to have the most successful careers. Actors associated with Jabba the Hutt had the worst careers.
• Those who played human characters were also more successful than those who played alien characters.
• One role that can lead to surprising success is being one of Padme’s handmaidens. Kiera Knightley who went onto helm the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, was the 36^th billed handmaiden.
• Rose Byrne, who is now associated with X-Men First Class, and Sunshine, was the 18^th billed handmaiden.
• More generally, despite the negativity around the prequels, the prequel actors went on to have more successful careers than their original trilogy counterparts.

Read why Gwendoline Christie better hope that her mask soon comes off, and how some of the most little-remembered characters went onto have the most successful careers over here.

Source: Five Thirty Eight

Harriet Sherwood wrote about a religion that is quickly winning converts in Iceland:

• In Iceland registered religious bodies receive “parish fees” – paid through taxes levied by the government amounting to the equivalent of $80 per taxpayer per year.
• Zuism promises to refund taxpayers the money they receive from the government.
• The religion is being taken up by citizens opposed to state funding of religious bodies.
• Over 1% of Iceland’s population – 3,100 people – converted over a two week period.
• Attempts to disqualify Zusm from state funding have faltered because of problems with identifying which religions are legitimate and which aren’t.
• Zuism itself is a real ancient religion that worships Sumerian Gods.
• Weirdly some of the converts have taken an interest in the religion itself. Ancient Sumerian services and poetry events have been surprisingly popular.

Read more about the belief, Iceland’s religion funding system, and other details here.

Source: The Guardian

Via: Marginal Revolution