Sometimes when I have a few minutes, I like to pick up and read a few items in The Dumbest Moments in Business History. I’d post a link to it, but I am on the Pocket PC right now. They have it on Amazon though.
If you haven’t heard of it, its title really sums it up well. It’s a collection of some business bloopers costing sometimes millions of dollars and the reputations of CEOs and senior management.
One of the short clips from the book:
“They’re multipurpose–not only do they put the clips on, but they take them off.”
–Pratt/Whitney spokesperson Robert G.H. Carroll, in 1990 explaining why it charged the Air Force $999.20 for a pair of pliers
Or who can forget this gem?
“Some women would prefer having smaller babies.”
–Joseph Cullman, then chairman of cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris, after being presented in 1971 with studies showing the correlation between pregnant smokers and low-birth-weight babies.
All-in-all, The Dumbest Moments in Business History is a fun study in a bunch of things NOT to do if you want to be successful.
Do you have any “dumb” business stories? Post them here
