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Posts Tagged ‘Money’

One in 25 business leaders may be a psychopath, study finds

01 Sep

Psychopaths use charm and manipulation to achieve success in the workplace, according to a US study

One out of every 25 business leaders could be psychopathic, a study claims.

The study, conducted by the New York psychologist Paul Babiak, suggests that they disguise the condition by hiding behind their high status, playing up their charm and by manipulating others.

Favourable environmental factors such as a happy childhood mean they can function in a workplace rather than channelling their energies in more violent or destructive ways. Revealing the results in a BBC Horizon documentary, Babiak said: "Psychopaths really aren't the kind of person you think they are.

"In fact, you could be living with or married to one for 20 years or more and not know that person is a psychopath.

"We have identified individuals that might be labelled 'the successful psychopath'.

"Part of the problem is that the very things we're looking for in our leaders, the psychopath can easily mimic.

"Their natural tendency is to be charming. Take that charm and couch it in the right business language and it sounds like charismatic leadership."

Babiak designed a 111-point questionnaire with Professor Bob Hare, of the University of British Columbia in Canada, a renowned expert in psychopathy. Hare believes about 1% of Americans can be described as psychopaths.

The survey suggests psychopaths are actually poor managerial performers but are adept at climbing the corporate ladder because they can cover up their weaknesses by subtly charming superiors and subordinates.

This makes it almost impossible to distinguish between a genuinely talented team leader and a psychopath, Babiak said. Hare told Horizon: "The higher the psychopathy, the better they looked – lots of charisma and they talk a good line.

"But if you look at their actual performance and ratings as a team player and productively, it's dismal. Looked good, performed badly.

"You have to think of psychopaths as having at their disposal a very large repertoire of behaviours. So they can use charm, manipulation, intimidation, whatever is required.

"A psychopath can actually put themselves in your skin, intellectually not emotionally.

"They can tell what you're thinking, they can look at your body language, they can listen to what you're saying, but what they don't really do is feel what you feel.

"What this allows them to do is use words to manipulate and con and to interact with you without the baggage of feeling your pain."

• Horizon: Are You Good Or Evil? is on BBC2 at 9pm on Wednesday 7 September


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Massachusetts Lottery Broken

01 Aug
wiredog sends in a story about how knowledge of lottery rules and statistics has allowed opportunistic players in Massachusetts to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on tickets while being assured of a massive payoff. Quoting: "Because of a quirk in the rules, when the jackpot reaches roughly $2 million and no one wins, payoffs for smaller prizes swell dramatically, which statisticians say practically assures a profit to anyone who buys at least $100,000 worth of tickets. During these brief periods — 'rolldown weeks' in gambling parlance — a tiny group of savvy bettors, among them highly trained computer scientists from MIT and Northeastern University, virtually take over the game. ... Srivastava calculated that a gambler who bought 200,000 Cash WinFall tickets during four rolldown weeks in a year would win enough to cover the $1.6 million investment and earn a profit of $240,000 to $1.4 million — without ever winning the jackpot."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.


 
 

What happens in our brain when we see banknotes being ripped up? [Neuroscience]

20 Mar
Or, put another way, "Is our attitude to money like that to any other tool even though its use is symbolic and is not implemented in its physical structure?" More »
 
 

Bill Gates Convinces 40 Billionaires to Give Away Half Their Fortunes [Bill Gates]

04 Aug
Our favorite charity-worker Bill Gates has successfully signed up 38 billionaires to give away half of their wealth to those less fortunate, in what could be the largest-scale philanthropic work ever. More »


 
 

Real-Life Money Tree

22 Jul


Photo: RaboDirect Australia [Flickr]

Money doesn't grow on trees. Or does it? As a publicity stunt, RaboDirect of Australia sponsored a stunt where a tree in a park in Sydney is festooned with real $5 bills:

An Overview of Responses:

Lost Opportunity
In the early stages, almost 100 people passed the tree without noticing that anything was different. Even when a group of joggers noticed, they were too busy to stop. The first groups who eventually stopped to interact couldn’t believe it. They inspected the notes and took pictures, but left empty handed.

Follow the Crowd
Only once one brave participant started taking the money, did momentum gather. Legitimised by the crowd, a wide spectrum of behaviour ensued.

Frugality
Some took just one or two notes, satisfied by their modest and unexpected gains.

Opportunist
Consumed by the fantasy, a group of braver participants made the most of the opportunity by filling their pockets.

Employing Tools and Working Together
When the low hanging $5 notes were depleted, participants employed tools such as swinging coats and umbrellas, to help them reach higher branches. Teamwork also came into play as spectators formed human pyramids to reach the notes seemingly out of reach.

Altruism
Perhaps the most comforting observation from the participants was that of altruism. Taller participants shared their earnings with shorter spectators, while one gentleman on identifying the undercover observation team, requested his money be donated to charity.

Link [with video clip] - via Marketing Alternatif

 
 

Wife of Washington Lobbyist Uses Money as Wrapping Paper

08 Sep

Filed under:


When it comes to gifts usually it's what's on the inside that counts, but that's not necessarily the case for the gifts Edwina Rogers gives -- she wraps her presents in money. Uncut sheets of real, government-issued, dollar bills.

The wife of Washington lobbyist Ed Rogers gets the money sheets from the United States Bureau of Engraving (you can order them for yourself here) and then slices and dices as you would any wrapping paper to best fit the gift and get the best pattern on the front of the package (in this case it's lining up Washington's face just right). No matter that she regularly cuts several bills in half in the process, to be frugal she sticks to the dollar paper and only uses it to wrap "small" gifts.

A sheet of money paper consisting of 32 $1 bills sells for $55.

Via Trendhunter

 

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Save Money By Starting A Fuel Oil Coop [Fuel Oil Coop]

27 Aug

To save money on heating costs this winter, consider joining or starting a fuel oil co-op. What's that?

When Barbara Troxell started one in 2004, she started by putting flyers in neighbors mailboxes. After getting about 14 people together, she started calling up dealers to see if they would offer a group rate discount. The group negotiated a $40 discount off a $179 annual plan, got downside price protection, with a pre-season boiler check included. Now the group is up to 50 people.Through collective buying power you can negotiate a better deal to buy in "bulk" than you can individually. For more info and tips on the nuts and bolts, check out this article.

How to Save Money by Starting a Fuel Oil Coop [Furnace Compare] (Photo: Getty)


 
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