When I worked for Apple, the head of my division handed out T-shirts with the saying adapt, migrate, or die ("Making Change," May). His biology teacher told him that these are the choices facing all organisms. I think businesses also face that same situation.
Chris Christensen
Los Gatos, California
Today, we see Apple as a sleek, hip company, thanks to its iPod revelation. Profits and sales have increased since its release. I doubt Steve Jobs's Apple would've died if it hadn't changed instantly. But surely, it wouldn't have benefited as much as it has if it hadn't decided to change as quickly as it did. The most important point of your story was that without change, employees can sink into a routine that keeps them and the companies they work for afloat but not thriving.
Manny Konedeng
San Diego, California
I shared many of the same feelings as Jory Des Jardins did as a female executive ("I Am Woman [I Think]," May) when I worked as an account manager for Ogilvy & Mather back in the 1980s. I have slowly come to realize that many firms are dominated by a single leadership style or personality type.
I tried working for women only to discover they can be just as intolerant as men. These days, many businesspeople mouth the virtues of diversity, but few really confront the challenges of tolerance. Supporting coworkers who are different makes work harder than most people expect.
Theresa Quintanilla
Houston, Texas
I can sympathize with the experience Jory Des Jardins endured as a corporate executive. But I helped found the country's first executive-leadership program for women 12 years ago, and Des Jardins's view that women aren't making it to the top because of a male-dominated culture is a limited one. While it's true that women represent more than half the workforce but just some 12% of all executive positions, the fact is that women are too often holding themselves back. It's not so much a glass ceiling as it is a "sticky floor."
We've learned that women frequently fail to focus on the overall corporate picture, instead believing they will be judged solely on their work. They're also often victims of an abundance of modesty, which propels them to downplay their power -- the very thing needed in a strong executive. Only when women acknowledge their own personal strategic failures will they ascend, in droves, to the corner office.
Rebecca Shambaugh
McLean, Virginia
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In "Soul Assassins" (May), we said Despair's principals were promised stock options. They were promised stock.
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