READING

  Life lessons from villains, crooks and gangsters (A)  A notorious Mexican drug baron’s audacious escape from prison in July doesn’t, at first, appear to have much to teach corporate boards. But some in the business world suggest otherwise. Beyond the morally reprehensible side of criminals' work, some business gurus say organised crime syndicates, computer hackers, pirates and others operating outside the law could teach legitimate corporations a thing or two about how to hustle and respond to rapid change. (B)  Far from encouraging illegality, these gurus argue that – in the same way big corporations sometimes emulate start-ups – business leaders could learn from the underworld about flexibility, innovation and the ability to pivot quickly. “There is a nimbleness to criminal organisations that legacy corporations [with large, complex layers of management] don’t have,” said Marc Goodman, head of the Future Crimes Institute and global cyber-crime advisor. While ...

       A.      In the late 1890s, while travelling as an itinerant salesperson for the crown, cork and seal company, king C. Gillette observed how his corked bottle caps were discarded immediately after opening. Nevertheless, his company turned a healthy profit and there was immense business value, Gillette soon came to realize, in a product that was used only a few times. Gillette had his own personal breakthrough while struggling with a straight-bladed razor—a slow, fiddly and potentially dangerous instrument that required sharpening on a regular basis . A simple, disposable blade that cloud be thrown away when it dulled would meet a real need and generate strong profit, he correctly reasoned. After founding the American Safety Razor Company in 1901, his sales leapt from 168 blades in 1903 to 123, 648 blades only a year later.     B.      What king C. Gillette pioneered is far more than a convenient...