Peter Morris...Unplugged

When not on the air, the Business Shrink is IN the air -- constantly traveling around the world, cutting multi-million dollar deals and barely stopping to eat or rest. But you'll never catch him interrupting dinner to punch something into a blackberry or treo. In fact, the self-described "dinosaur" does not use a blackberry, or even a computer for that matter. Even so, his trusted assistants do use computers and email, which they print out and fax or fedex to whatever far-flung hotel he happens to be calling home.

Morris' workstyle was affirmed today by Business Shrink guest Julie Morgenstern, organizing and time management expert and the author of NEVER CHECK EMAIL IN THE MORNING: And Other Unexpected Strategies for Making Your Work Life Work. "You really are at an advantage," she said to Peter. "more and more people are starting to realize they really do have to pull away...and say no to constant interruptions."

Morgenstern says that her consulting clients used to be able to spend a few days with her. These days they are so swamped that she is lucky to get an hour every few months.

Thanks to distractions like constant email checking, "people are working in kind of a staccato work environment where everything that can get done in 5 or 10 minutes gets attended to but everthing that takes concentration gets put off," she said.

She advises spending the first hour each day on your most critical task. If you can't pull away for the first hour of the day, she says, you won't be able to distance yourself later in the day.

Morris and Morgenstern might be on to something. A recent London University study found that the distractions of constant emails, text and phone messages are a greater threat to IQ and concentration than taking cannabis, according to the UK Guardian.

Money Pitfalls

Unfortunately Peter Morris and Princeton sociology professor Viviana Zelizer ran out of time before he could get her to assess the dollar value of his children, but the Business Shrink did have a scintillating conversation today with the author of "The Purchase of Intimacy." Zelizer's thesis breaks down something like this: talking about money in the context of intimate relationships is taboo, but it is exactly this fear of acknowledging the mingling of those worlds that causes us a ton of headaches.

Said Zelizer: “As soon as you start looking at your own life, at your own intimate life, you see we are constantly mixing intimate relations with economic activities…we support our children, exchange household work, support an aged parent. So the book is really challenging this assumption that these are totally separate worlds and asks -- why are we so scared about the mixing?"

The Business Shrink also advocates full transparency and disclosure when it comes to financial matters and personal relationships. "When a couple has intimacy problems that aren’t related to finances, money often becomes a flashpoint," he told Zelizer. "But if people have all the issues on the table and the feelings are expressed, these problems can be avoided."

Rush Hour

Rejected by the sorority house of your choice? Well, don’t give up so easily, sister. Call the Business Shrink, talk radio’s first sorority “rush consultant”, and ace that next recruitment interview. Peter Morris added this service to his resume after Friday’s show, during which he talked to Monster.com founder Jeff Taylor— author of Monster Careers: Interviewing—AND Alexandra Robbins, author of Pledged: The Secret Life of Sororities.

Taylor didn’t divulge many details about Eons, the new company he launched earlier this month, but both he and Peter had a lot of useful tips for job interviewees.
They both stressed preparation, especially to deal with the inevitable “tell me about yourself” question. Taylor advised interviewees to prepare by making lists of their strengths and to elaborate on those key areas with vivid success stories. After that exercise, he says “you’re excited, you’re not nervous about the question any longer, and you’re leading the interview in the right direction."

As a lifelong entrepreneur, The Business Shrink hasn’t had to go on many job interviews. But he is a veteran interviewer. “I try to put people at ease and to get people to talk about themselves. I’m always impressed when people ask good questions and drill deeper,” Morris says.

For her book Pledged, Alexandra Robbins went undercover as a pledge to investigate sororities. Robbins told Peter she is not anti-Greek System. “There are a lot of wonderful groups out there”. But she does detail some humiliating hazing rituals, ranging from forcing pledges to eat their own vomit (after eating spam and pounding beers) and requiring them to line up topless in order of breast size. She advised prospective pledges to ditch any house that makes them feel uncomfortable. And on the subject of networking (this is a business show after all) Robbins downplayed the career benefit to pledging, saying that in most cases (with the exception of Greek-obsessed Texas) the payoff is limited.

Sound and Fury

I’ve only heard the Business Shrink raise his voice once, and that was off-air, when he was on a business call right before the show. It turned out at issue was a high-stakes deal which could have meant “seven figures up or down” for his bottom line. But he was able to manage his anger well enough to pull it together seconds before airtime and host a compelling show. Peter Morris prides himself on his emotional self-management, so it should be fascinating to hear him compare notes with the one of the nation’s leading anger management gurus, George Anderson, tomorrow. According to a recent LA Times profile “Anderson has practically cornered the market on anger management training in Southern California, establishing himself as the dead-calm center of a swirling world of volatile hotheads, sputtering short-fusers, temperamental teeth-clenchers—the whole menagerie of people whose outbursts often bring them, eventually, into a rational and lucrative world Anderson helped create.”

Sympathy for the Devil?

A few weeks ago, the Business Shrink chatted with John Dicker, author of the book The United States of Wal-Mart. Dicker catalogues the myriad charges against the company, from sex discrimination to sweatshops. While Peter Morris was sympathetic to Dicker's social, economic, and environmental critique, the host also came to the defense of the embattled company (which did not respond to our invitation). There must be a town somewhere, he said, where Wal-Mart provided a boost to the local economy.

Well there may or may not be such a town, but Wal-Mart is now being widely praised for its speedy response to Hurricane Katrina. The company was ready with cash and supplies before Bush even thought to turn on the weather channel. Even some of the company's longtime critics, like leading retail analyst Burt Flickinger-- our guest on tomorrow's show-- are applauding the the world's largest corporation. "Wal-Mart served the city far better than any private or public institution," Flickenger told the Associated Press.

Frequent Flyer

The Business Shrink, international mogul of mystery, is on yet another foreign business trip this week. Peter Morris will host the show live from London on Friday and from Paris shortly thereafter. Appropriately, his guest on Friday is Columbia University history professor Victoria de Grazia, who has written a fascinating new book Irresistible Empire: America’s Advance through 20th Century Europe.

When I first visited to London, I was offended by both the condescending attitude toward American culture and the ubiquity of McDonald’s and bad American television. In fact, whenever a snooty Brit (inevitably, just back from holiday in Orlando) would disparage the US, I would simply point out that when TV’s Baywatch was facing cancellation in the US, it was Britain and Germany that provided the financial life preserver. It’s no secret that Europe has a love-hate relationship with America and its culture. Professor de Grazia puts that dynamic in captivating historical perspective.

But first on Friday, Peter checks in again with New Orleans CityBusiness editor Terry O'Connor.
The CityBusiness blog has the latest on social services, economic aid, and travel arrangements -- as well as O'Connor's column. He writes that the Katrina response "revealed callous disregard among the nation’s leaders in a country known worldwide for its compassion...My America would never let babies die in the streets of New Orleans."

Shrink Rap

Can the Business Shrink save Hip-Hop? Maybe not, but Peter Morris has plenty of advice for up-and-coming rapper Billy Shakes, his first guest on the show tommorrow. Shakes - who is also a vice-president at CitiGroup- will discuss his efforts to bring responsible saving and investment advice to a wider hip-hop audience through his music. I first read about Shakes in a Fortune magazine profile a few weeks ago entitled "The Rap on Wall St," and, after listening to the catchy tracks on his website, decided we had to talk to him. During their conversation, The Business Shrink coined the term "raponomics" (the economics of hip-hop), and offered it to an appreciative Billy Shakes to use (royalty-free!). Or at least I thought Peter coined the term, until I googled it. But let's keep that between us.

Friday guest: New Orleans City Business Editor

Tomorrow, The Business Shrink welcomes Terry O'Connor, editor of New Orleans CityBusiness. O’Connor and several other evacuated staff members have assembled a makeshift newsroom in Baltimore in the office of CityBusiness’ sister publication, The Daily Record. They are busy disseminating frequent updates on the paper's website and through daily e-mail alerts. Meanwhile, they are anxiously trying to track down their missing coworkers. As of this morning, O’Connor told us that he has only been able to make contact with 26 of 53 CityBusiness staffers.

Tune in at 12 noon Pacific, 3 PM Eastern for Peter Morris’ live interview with Terry O’Connor. And we welcome your calls and emails.