Weekend Digest: The Secret Santa Edition

For our weekend business and political readers:

WHO’S YOUR SECRET SANTA?
His name is Bill, and “I thought Bill sounded like a friendly fellow,” explained Rachel, a Reddit user about her Secret Santa on the site’s annual gift exchange.

“In fact, I had this whole imgae of this poor guy named Bill trying to navigate my wishlist full of makeup, nailpolish, glittery things to buy me. Quite frankly I felt bad for this Bill.”

But then she dug in a little deeper.

“I opened this and it’s a man holding a sign.. And then it finally hit me.”

Could it have been Bill Gates or Bill Clinton? And what did he give Rachel?

Click on this link from Yahoo News to find out.

BIG THEFT HITS TARGET
It happened over the Black Friday holiday weekend, and Forbes calls the theft “one of the most sophisticated and coordinated ever.”

The technology used by the thieves is not new, but executing the plan across enough stores to grab 40 million accounts required almost military precision.

This massive theft was an inside job at Target stores, but who done it?

Was it employees? Store cleaners? Were they planted by a large group of organized criminals over a short period of time, or did a smaller group take months of time preparing for the big weekend?

So what was planted and how was it accomplished? How much will Target be hurt by the thieves’ actions and should account holders be alarmed?

Answers to those questions at this link.

CULTURE CHANGE?  NOT GONNA HAPPEN
So are you looking to fix the culture in your company with a makeover?  It will be a very tough fix, if not impossible according to Harvard Business Review.

Company culture changes very slowly, so efforts to do an about-face are inevitably a waste of time and energy: Organizations either declare victory prematurely or, in frustration, abandon the attempt.

You’re better off thinking of your cultural situation as an underpinning you’ll have to work with over time. It will evolve, but more slowly than other elements of your enterprise, such as a new operating model.

Harvard Business Review says however, you can “shape your culture” by adapting a few key behaviors.

What are they?  Go to this link to find out.

BIGGEST BREAKTHROUGH BRAND OF 2013
“Written off for dead” two years ago, Mashable says our old friend Netflix is back, bigger and more customer-friendly than ever. What happened and how did Netflix get up off the mat to become the “Breakthrough Brand of 2013”?

It was an abrupt and shocking turnaround for a company that had long been viewed as one of the savviest in the tech industry, and doubts about the company lingered long after it killed off Qwikster, apologized and started to grow its subscriber base again.

It arguably wasn’t until the beginning of this year — Jan. 23, to be exact — when Netflix shattered many of those doubts. On that day, Netflix reported its fourth-quarter earnings results, which revealed that it had added more than 2 million subscribers from the previous quarter and turned a $7 million profit, both of which beat analyst expectations.

That earnings report caused the stock to jump from just under $100 to nearly $140 in a 24-hour period and kickstarted a year full of glowing headlines for the streaming movie service.

To learn more about this amazing comeback and how Netlix’s CEO went from goat to the “front row”, dial up this link.

AN INSIDER WASHINGTON REPORTER’S REPRIEVE
Political reporter Sam Youngman posts in POLITICO Magazine he’s never been happier. Why? After a decade of being a key bigwig reporter in the nation’s capital, he left and went back home to Kentucky. And if you want one of the best, no-holds accounts of why he did it, and what he really thinks about what he left behind, this post is a must read.

If you’ve managed to carve out a place for yourself in the shark tank that is the Washington media, you probably see yourself as pretty tough — sign No. 1 that you live and work in a town that long ago broke away from reality. It’s not your fault. Washington is an endless maze of funhouse mirrors, a fact we’re reminded of once a year when the Hill publishes its 50 Most Beautiful list, replete with people who are Washington hot, which is a step above rehab hot and two levels below jury duty hot. All are miles below what the rest of the country considers actual hot.

And talk about your inside scoop.

It must be said: Much of my time in Washington was one hell of a party, an endless and decadent blowout bash more suited to VH1’s Behind the Music than working in the nation’s capital.

The first couple years, I spent almost every night downing bourbon — and sometimes indulging in harder substances — at Capitol Lounge before walking back to my studio apartment in Eastern Market, occasionally with some female congressional staffer whose name I was almost always too drunk to remember. (I later sought out and apologized to as many of those women as I could. To the ones I missed: I’m profoundly sorry for my behavior.)

Don’t take those last quips too much the wrong way. Youngman covered it all in Washington, other than nightlife, and is extremely respected.

For his full account and one of the year’s best reads, go to this link.

THE NEW SPORT OF BLASTING POLITICAL JOURNALISM
The Washington Post says, “Of late, there’s a cottage industry blooming in political journalism: Blasting political journalism.”

So with that thought in mind The Post has taken a bare-knuckled approach to its trade with a piece called, “Why Washington journalism doesn’t suck.”

Using Sam Youngman’s piece (see above) as case-in-point of the shooting-in-the foot mentality, Post reporter Chris Cillizza strikes back at the back-stabbers.

But, as someone who makes my living writing a blog based in no small part on conversations with people who live inside the Beltway, I take issue with the characterization — or at least the implication — in Sam’s piece that we are all clueless about what “real” reporting actually is and that living in D.C. and being a reporter means, by default, you are part of this gross subculture.

When I go out at night, I do it to play pickup basketball not glad-hand with Congressional staffers. Maybe I run with the wrong crowd but the folks I know have a life more like mine than the one Sam describes in his piece. Let me reiterate: I — and everyone who lives in D.C. — knows that world exists. But, knowing it exists and participating in it are very different things.

Fore more of this delectable, point/counter-point, click on this link.

STATES LOSING HEALTH INSURANCE EXCHANGE LEADERS
The New York Times reports Minnesota has become the fourth state to lose its health insurance exchange leader.

The director of Minnesota’s health insurance exchange, April Todd-Malmlov, abruptly resigned this week, making the exchange the fourth state program to see a leadership change in the midst of mounting criticism over the rollout of President Obama’s new health care law.

At a news conference on Wednesday, Ms. Todd-Malmlov’s successor was quick to promise fixes to problems still plaguing consumers, many of whom are worried about getting coverage by Jan. 1, when new policies under the law are set to take effect.

The Times reports, “Ms. Todd-Malmlov had been in damage-control mode for weeks, but calls for her removal grew after she took a tropical vacation in November.”

For the full story on the latest in a series of top-level departures from state-run online exchanges around the country and the ever increasing fallout it’s causing, go to this link.

TO WIN, HILLARY CLINTON MUST BE THE “REAL HILLARY”
The National Journal says if there is to be a “third Clinton term” in the White House, Hillary Clinton needs to be “warm, open, and honest.”

Using a faux memo format The Journal addresses the former Secretary of State this way:

To: Hillary

From: A Few of Us

Subject: Anti-Hillary

The last we spoke as a group, you made it clear your mind wasn’t made up about 2016. We get it: You’re tired, and it’s too soon. And you’re right: By this time next year, you’ll know for certain whether you’ve got the fire in your belly, and we’ll be better able to judge voters’ attitudes toward a “third Clinton term.” (Sorry, we know you hate that phrase, but it makes a point.) Everybody on the team agrees you deserve some space.

But a few of us felt compelled to jot down some “unofficial” thoughts for you to digest during the holidays. We’re a bit worried about the nature of the team’s discussions so far. What bothers us is this: The talks are almost exclusively tactical, traditional, and safe—based on a consensus that your brand is smartly positioned for 2016 and that you would be the prohibitive favorite. A few of us think differently.

What do they think differently, and what are the not-so-faux recommendations?

For the full memo, click on this link.

COULD THIS BE THE MOST EXPENSIVE RANT IN HISTORY?
You’ve probably heard about it for sure by now. Duck Dynasty star and patriarch Phil Robertson gave an interview to GQ and went on an anti-gay rant. Here’s an outtake:

“Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men,” he says. […] “Don’t be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers — they won’t inherit the kingdom of God. Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not right.”

Now Forbes wonders what that little diddy might do to the “Quack Pack’s” $400 million empire with its gold-level sponsors of A&E and Walmart.

What, then, will Walmart do? The big box giant is responsible for about 50% of this year’s incredible $400 million in Duck Dynasty-related retail sales, with Phil Robertson’s mug (along with his bearded relatives) gracing its bestselling t-shirt in both men’s and women’s apparel. Some Walmart stores in the south feature entire aisles devoted to the Louisiana duck hunters, selling everything from bedding to prayer devotionals adorned with their trademark camouflage and folksy catchphrases.

Walmart publicly dumped Paula Dean after the Southern chef’s headline-grabbing allegations of racism this past summer, although you can still find her cookware on Walmart.com The question is whether the powers that be in Bentonville, Ark. believe Robertson’s vile homophobia will anger their shoppers the same way they clearly imagined Deen’s apparent racism would.

For full details on the possible economic impact of this evolving story, go to this link.

“INSPIRATION DISSEMINATION”
It’s not your usual radio show, in fact it’s down right unusual. The program features subjects like Blueberry root rot disease and applied economics in transportation and is broadcast by Oregon State University.

On a Sunday night in early November, John Yeo, a Ph.D. student in the College of Agriculture was on the air talking about his lab research. He said presenting the information was good practice, and did his best to make his research on suppressing berry root rot disease relatable to listeners.

“I’ve given a few presentations, mostly on methods and results, but not really about my path here in the program,” Yeo says. “It was great! It was half an hour, but it seemed like five minutes. It was a great conversation.”

So to the uninformed that could possibly be the most boring topic ever, except perhaps a spin on watching apples turn brown. But there is an audience, and the show is important to them.  Why?  Dial up this link, to find out.