Degrees of Separation

Paul and I were having lunch, in the process of negotiating a merger. He pulled out a salary list we had provided to him. "Your COO looks a bit overpaid."

"Our operations are a part of why you want to merge with us, and she's in charge of that. You've already been picking her brain. What's your problem?"

"Well, I was talking to her and it came up she doesn't have a degree."

"I pay for performance, not wallpaper."

"I understand that, but this is an upper management position."

I rummaged through my attache and found the article I had clipped. I put it on the table, positioned toward Paul.

He scanned the first couple paragraphs. "Okay, this other woman was named executive of the year by her company. What's your point?"

"She wasn't 'named.' She earned it by driving her region to the best performance in the entire company. They're a worldwide corporation."

"Again, what's your..."

"She doesn't have a degree."

"And you know this because?"

"I know her." If I want to continue to know her, I suppose I should send a card or something.

Paul smiled. "So, you'd let a self-proclaimed cardiologist perform a transplant on you?"

"Medicine is set up to exclude those outside the channel. Opportunities to learn by experience or mentoring aren't there. We're talking about business."

"I didn't mean to touch a nerve."

"You didn't, I have an MBA. And, I've benefitted in my various businesses from hiring those whom others rejected with a knee-jerk degree screen."

But, maybe he had touched a nerve. During the weeks leading up to the Stupor Bowl (sic), I became disgusted by the interviews with players who said football gave them everything. Without that, they couldn't have gone to college and would be nothing today.

Excuse me? You'd be nothing? So, you couldn't have gotten a job and have been productive? Maybe even doing something that contributes more to society than running around on a field with an inflated bladder? You couldn't have put some of your earnings aside and gone to night classes? Gimme a break.