MIT Kid goes to Dubai

[Dreadnaught]

...as a consultant for Boston Consulting Group. Gets fired because (allegedly) corporate culture there is insane and he is made not to tell client that their business idea is stupid.

Easy read in four parts, dry but entertaining:

Part 1- http://tech.mit.edu/V130/N16/dubai.html

Part 2- http://tech.mit.edu/V130/N17/dubai.html

Part 3- http://tech.mit.edu/V130/N18/dubai.html

Part 4- http://tech.mit.edu/V130/N19/dubai.html

I just founds the thing plain interesting. But for the sake of debate, anyone ever kept their mouth shut at their job and regret it to this day?

[CitizenCain]

Gets fired because (allegedly) corporate culture there is insane and he is made not to tell client that their business idea is stupid.

Uh... that also describes much of Western corporate culture, FYI.

But for the sake of debate, anyone ever kept their mouth shut at their job and regret it to this day?

Best strategy, really. Shut your mouth, open your ears, and use the knowledge you acquire to crush all those who would punish you for opening your mouth. (99%+ of the people above you).

[Ominous Gamer]

Work for the government, last thing you regret is not offering your opinion.

[Loki]

That was very well written. It's equally damning to the consulting business and how Dubai works. The guy should write a book.

[earthJoker]

Uh... that also describes much of Western corporate culture, FYI.

Western as in American? European corporate culture is different from the US (that said even within Europe there are many differences)

[Being]

Thirteenth floor apartment...

[Flixy]

Western as American? European corporate culture is different from the US (that said even within Europe there are many differences)

Agreed, over here you are expected to speak up. Especially for him, since that's what they hire academics for in the first place.

Interesting story I've actually been in touch with the BCG lately, I should ask them about this next time.

[Dreadnaught]

I think his point in the story is that in the West, it's acceptable for someone to do an analysis and tell a client they may lose a ton of money. But in the corporate culture of Dubai, people didn't really know why they were hiring consultants, didn't want to actually take their advice and wouldn't have done business with anyone who wasn't a "yes man" to their project. So BCG just went along with it.

[Illusions]

The story is good, the writer is a deluded money-makes-right asshole.

[Timbuk2]

Haven't made up my mind about the type of person the author is, but the yarn he spins makes for good and interesting reading.

His point about investing in human capital and education rather than tourism and industry is pertinent.

From what I know of the Emirates in general and Dubai in particular, I think his insights are spot on, unfortunately.

[Illusions]

Haven't made up my mind about the type of person the author is

The only reason we got to read an article about it is because of his line towards the end about how $16,000, the amount of hush money he was offered, is not a lot of money...he seems to be a very money oriented person, and seems to decide his morals by it.

[Hazir]

I just read this story and I think it's pretty run-of-the-mill where it goes about what Dubai really is about.

As for the question that Dread asked under the story; at some time in my career I made the mistake of taking a job that seemed very promising, but which turned out to be a disaster. To sum the situation up; I, nor my employer had any idea what I was supposed to do. My attempts to find a useful occupation were halfway successful, untill things fell apart again because of a change in management. At which point I did speak up, pointed out how ridiculous it was to pay someone (me) for a job they didn't really wanted to be done. They gladly took my hint and tried to off-load me. They almost had managed to get rid of me in the cheapest way; me quitting the job. In the end they weren't quite so lucky, since a consultant pointed out to me that given the symptoms she observed I was suffering from a burn-out.

[Timbuk2]

The only reason we got to read an article about it is because of his line towards the end about how $16,000, the amount of hush money he was offered, is not a lot of money...he seems to be a very money oriented person, and seems to decide his morals by it.

I thought his morals about that particular point were beyond reproach.

He was offered $16k to sign an agreement which meant he would have to 'be a cheerleader for BCG ... bar [him] from making disparaging comments about BCG'.

He asked for such clauses to be removed and was told the agreement was standard and non-negotiable. He was utterly uncomfortable with this, qualified it further by saying how could he not talk to his future kids about this, and turned down the money.

Surely a person whose sole concern was money would take the money and run, regardless of how large or small a sum of money that was in relative terms, and only think about the consequences later?

I admire him for his stance here.

[Illusions]

I thought his morals about that particular point were beyond reproach.

He was offered $16k to sign an agreement which meant he would have to 'be a cheerleader for BCG ... bar [him] from making disparaging comments about BCG'.

He asked for such clauses to be removed and was told the agreement was standard and non-negotiable. He was utterly uncomfortable with this, qualified it futher by saying how could he not talk to his future kids about this, and turned down the money.

Surely a money-oriented person would take the money and run, regardless of how large or small a sum of money that was in relative terms, and only think about the consequences later?

I admire him for his stance here.

Huh? The whole article summed up his feeling as weighing whether the amount of money was greater than or less than some other opposing potential gain or loss. He didn't take the $16,000 because the money was less than the potential gain of telling other people his story, implying that he had a price for being bought off, and that $16k wasn't it. In addition consider the amount of money $16k is compared to the amount of money he implied he was making that would allow him to retire in his 30's...when the retirement age for Americans is around 67.

[Timbuk2]

Huh? The whole article summed up his feeling as weighing whether the amount of money was greater than or less than some other opposing potential gain or loss. He didn't take the $16,000 because the money was less than the potential gain of telling other people his story, implying that he had a price for being bought off, and that $16k wasn't it.

Whoa.

Where on earth in the piece does he mention weighing up whether $16k was worth more or less than what he might gain, in monetary terms, by not signing the agreement?

Or is that just speculation or your part?

[Being]

He took an apartment on the 13th floor of a practically empty apartment complex. That fact makes me question the rest of the truths in his story.

[Illusions]

Whoa.

Where on earth in the piece does he mention weighing up whether $16k was worth more or less than what he might gain, in monetary terms, by not signing the agreement?

Or is that just speculation or your part?

Its my speculation based off of this here:

In theory, it was their money to lose. If they wanted a consulting report that parroted back their pre-determined conclusion, who was I to complain? I did not have any right to dictate that their money be spent differently. And yet, to not speak out was wrong. To destroy a billion dollars is to destroy an almost unimaginable amount of human well-being. Spent carefully on anti-malarial bed nets and medicine, one billion dollars could save a million lives. This was a crime, and failing to try and stop it would be as bad as committing it myself. And if I could not prevent it, then what reason was I being paid such a high salary? How could I justify my income if not by prevailing in situations such as these?

With a diligent enough effort, one can morally justify nearly anything. It was clear that the client was going to go forward with their decision regardless of how I acted. How could I be responsible for a foregone conclusion? And if I had no power to change things, then why shouldn’t I take the course of action that lets me keep my job? Who would it benefit for me to give up my paycheck? With my salary, I could make large and regular contributions to Red Cross or Doctors Without Borders — without it I would just be another unemployed bum.
But there is a large difference between telling yourself a story and believing it. Ultimately, the core reason I stayed silent wasn’t altruistic, but selfish. At my salary level, and with my expected advancement path, I could comfortably retire in my thirties. That would mean nearly a full lifetime at my disposal, a solid forty years to find true love and raise a family without distraction. It was the opportunity to travel, to achieve great things, to self-actualize. It was the prospect of living a life free of want and need. Who was I kidding? I wasn’t going to donate half my salary to Red Cross. I was going to deposit it into an index fund and speed off as soon as I was sure there was enough gas in the car.

I’m a free marketeer. I believe that voluntary exchange is not just a good method of incentivizing people to provide their labor and talents to society, but a robust moral system — goods and services represent tangible benefit to people, market prices represent the true value of goods in society, and wages represent the value that a worker provides to others. Absent negative externalities or monopoly effects, a man receives from the free market what he gives to it, his material worth is a running tally of the net benefit that he has provided to his fellow man. A high income is not only justified, but there is nobility to it.
My moral system is organized around a utilitarian principle of greatest good for the greatest number — that which adds value cannot be wrong. It did not bother me therefore when I was handed consulting reports that had been stolen from our competitors. If the information in those reports would help us improve our client, then who could say we were doing wrong? Like downloading MP3s, it was a victimless crime.

The last quote actually occurs before the other two, but I think putting it at the end here helps put the other two in perspective. Going along with his own stated moral line of reasoning, I would assume that had the company offered him enough money that he felt he could do more perceived good with than telling his story, he would not have told it, and taken the money. Consider this in addition to how much money it would take to retire in your 30's to scale how much $16k would be to him.

[Being]

Is Illusions having connection problems?

[LittleFuzzy]

Whoa.

Where on earth in the piece does he mention weighing up whether $16k was worth more or less than what he might gain, in monetary terms, by not signing the agreement?

Or is that just speculation or your part?

Illusions doesn't appreciate the man's honesty, and pretends he wouldn't make the same decision when offered that sort of compensation.

[Ominous Gamer]

2 minute difference between postings, nice...

[Illusions]

Is Illusions having connection problems?

Yes. The wireless connection on my desktop sucks due to distance/wifi interference.

Illusions doesn't appreciate the man's honesty, and pretends he wouldn't make the same decision when offered that sort of compensation.

Money is pretty low on the decision making scale for me, hence why I chose the job that I recently posted I'd been laid off from, as opposed to one I was offered with 5x the pay (now up to 6x the pay apparently from what I've heard) and full benefits.

2 minute difference between postings, nice...

You know when you click "Post Reply" and that swirly icon comes up to tell you that its doing something? Well I changed tabs, came back to it 2 minutes later and it was still doing it, so I hit "Post Reply" again...

[ar81]

Well, that explains the crisis in Dubai... those who can say something are fired...

[CitizenCain]

Yes. The wireless connection on my desktop sucks due to distance/wifi interference.

You know, they make wires for that function now. Might be worth looking into for you.

[Illusions]

You know, they make wires for that function now. Might be worth looking into for you.

The desktop is question is more than 50ft away from the cable modem, and is on an entirely different floor of the house, hence the cableless solution...at the time it was implemented I also didn't have the interference problem, so meh...

[Loki]

The guy is an engineering graduate from MIT. He's not snobby. He simply has different expectations about income.

[Nessus]

Arguably that choice of career is, while not snobby, certainly money-grubbing and whorish

[Dreadnaught]

The story is good, the writer is a deluded money-makes-right asshole.

The only reason we got to read an article about it is because of his line towards the end about how $16,000, the amount of hush money he was offered, is not a lot of money...he seems to be a very money oriented person, and seems to decide his morals by it.

Like the others, I really don't see where you're getting this at all. The whole point is that he stuck with the easy money until it got so ridiculous he was ready to be done with it. And then he turned down $16k just to never shut up; he never said he would profit from telling the story, but didn't want to feel like he couldn't talk about it for a cash payment.

He took an apartment on the 13th floor of a practically empty apartment complex. That fact makes me question the rest of the truths in his story.

Eh? That place is full of empty real estate. It's like a housing boom on anabolic steroids.

[Being]

Eh? That place is full of empty real estate. It's like a housing boom on anabolic steroids.

Kinda part of my point. In a 26 story empty building he chose the 13th floor.

[littlelolligagged]

Kinda part of my point. In a 26 story empty building he chose the 13th floor.

So you're saying he'd be more believable if he were superstitious?

The article was interesting, but I don't know that I got anything from it other than he wanted to sell his story. Nothing overly damning about either his company or Dubai.

[Being]

So you're saying he'd be more believable if he were superstitious?

Which floor would you have chosen?