I wrote
yesterday about my dismay over Greg Mortenson's frauds while building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Last night I finished reading Jon Krakauer's lengthy
article on Mortenson.
I recognized in Krakauer's portrait of Mortenson things I'd seen in a previous boss at a previous company. Things like:
1) When you have the person's attention, you have it all the time. When you don't, it's like the person disappears.
2) A tendency to jump from project to project at a whim.
3) A strong tendency to intermingle personal and corporate funds. This may be a part of the "don't like corporate rules" mindset common to Mortenson and my previous employer.
4) Management by knocking down one to one's peers while boosting one to their face.
I've been told that characteristics #1 and #2 are symptoms of manic-depression. I don't know what #3 and #4 are, but they do seem to be part of a set.
In totally unrelated news, I'm heading downstate for Easter tomorrow, so blogging may not happen. For those that celebrate, enjoy, for those that don't, have a nice weekend.