Morning Advantage: Does the Perfect Sweatshirt Exist?
HBR.org 2012-12-12
I consider hoodies to be a wardrobe staple. In cotton, polyester, wool, I've got a drawer full. So I was delighted by Farhad Manjoo's recent Slate article, "This Is the Greatest Hoodie Ever Made." He interviews entrepreneur Bayard Winthrop and former Apple industrial designer Philipe Manoux, both of sweatshirt maker American Giant. Not only has the company figured out how to manufacture their clothing entirely in the U.S. (and at a good profit margin); they've made aesthetically beautiful hoodies that stretch at the right places (side panels so your hoodie doesn't rise awkwardly when you, God forbid, reach your arms over your head) and not at the wrong places (be gone, too-loose wrist cuffs!). I could go on, as could Manjoo: "For a lot of people, this might sound like overkill — a beautiful hoodie might strike you as oxymoronic and superfluous, and you'd just as well spend your money on high fashion rather than a slacker uniform. But even if you aren't a fan of sweatshirts, American Giant's business model is worth watching." All true. But for a fan like me, I'm also a bit disappointed that Manjoo's subtitle, "How American Giant created the best sweatshirt known to man" might be a little too accurate: the hoodies are made for and marketed to men only (though the company promises a full women's line this spring).
A Cautionary Tale of Two Friends and Oceans of Cash (Fortune)
The next time your best buddy tries to get you to invest in a sketchy "alternative investment," show him this article. Fortune tells the story of two friends and former colleagues, one of whom got involved in what appeared to be a lucrative investment business and began proselytizing. His friend not only declined, he ultimately became Utah’s chief securities regulator and investigated the fund that was generating oceans of cash for his buddy. "People want to believe," the regulator says. But "the price they pay is beyond anything they can imagine." —Andy O'Connell
When a 'Team Victory' Leaves a Star Feeling Neglected (The Washington Post)
Your company has just scored a big success. But what happens when the higher-ups decide to position the victory as a "team effort" while one key player feels she deserves the lion's share of the credit? That's the scene playing out inside the CIA after the new movie Zero Dark Thirty puts a spotlight on one young analyst's role in identifying Bin Laden's hideout. When the CIA gave out awards to a broad group of employees, she objected publicly, and may have been denied a promotion as a result. The Washington Post offers this great look at an organizational culture that one employee describes as "like middle schoolers with [security] clearances." —Dan McGinn
French Fries at 4:15 a.m.
23 Rules of the Office Holiday Party (The Wall Street Journal) The End of a Wine Era? The Robert Parker Bombshell (Reuters) Here's a Better Way to Remember Things (HBR)