The Myth of Performance Metrics; Harvard Business Review, 12/12/11

Dick Grote, Harvard Business Review; The Myth of Performance Metrics:

"Don't get hung up trying to find quantitative metrics to support every judgment in a performance appraisal. Remember what Albert Einstein said: "Not everything that counts can be counted. And not everything that can be counted counts.""

Carol Bartz Rips Yahoo Board: 'These People F----d Me Over' ; HuffingtonPost.com, 9/8/11

Catharine Smith, HuffingtonPost.com; Carol Bartz Rips Yahoo Board: 'These People F----d Me Over' :

"Ousted Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz has some choice words to share about the people who fired her.

In her first interview since her dismissal on Tuesday evening, Bartz told Fortune her thoughts about Yahoo’s board of directors.

"These people f----d me over," Bartz said, according to Fortune’s Patricia Sellers."

Corner Office, Interview with Enrique Salem, president and C.E.O. of Symantec; Want to Lead? Ask Tennyson and Shakespeare; New York Times, 9/3/11

Adam Bryant, Corner Office, New York Times; Interview with Enrique Salem, president and C.E.O. of Symantec, the computer security company; Want to Lead? Ask Tennyson and Shakespeare:

"Q. And does that include difficult conversations with people about their performance?

A. Absolutely. It was harder for me to talk to somebody about, “Here’s where I need you to improve.” It didn’t make it easier to be worried about their reaction. Now I feel more comfortable with that, and I think it’s just a matter of experience.

If you’re going to be successful, you’ve got to be able to deliver the tough message. And I find that a lot of managers will not deliver those messages and then people are surprised. If you get asked to be a manager, you have to manage. And managing means sometimes you’ve got to deliver a tough message. But you’ve got to give the feedback in a way that has a constructive tone."