Esther: Welcome back to The BusinessMakers Overtime Show, heard here and online at theBusinessMakers.com. I'm Esther Steinfeld –

Katie: And I'm Katie Laird.

Esther: And we are back with segment three, also known as our special features.

Katie: And they are special.

Esther: We have a very special feature for you today. A couple, actually. So we're talking conspiracy theories.

Katie: Oooh!

Esther: Not necessarily like Area 51, you know alien type conspiracies.

Katie: Aww.

Esther: More business conspiracies.

Katie: Okay.

Esther: Because that is very relevant right now. You know, people always think that if something a little strange is going on, it's them. Whoever them is. They're doing something bad in the world.

Katie: Big brother, yeah.

Esther: Big brother, right.

Katie: They're watching and they're screwing us all over. (Laughter)

Esther: That's right. So we're here to either debunk or shed a little light on some of these conspiracy theories. There's this article that was in Slate, actually in their big money section, about these business conspiracy theories. It's by a guy named Gary Weiss and he basically tell us whether or not some of the biggest conspiracy theories are even possible. So let's just talk about a couple of 'em. See what you think. We'd love to know what you think. If you think they're possible or not because they sound pretty –

Katie: Possibly plausible? (Laughter)

Esther: Yeah. Yeah. So the first one he mentions or one of the ones he mentions is Wall Street screws consumers at the gas pump.

Katie: Hmm.

Esther: So this is interesting. If you remember in 2008 all of a sudden, gas prices went sky high.

Katie: Yep.

Esther: For no reason.

Katie: Yep.

Esther: People were really confused. They had no idea why. Nothing happened and there was all this speculation going on, you know, when commodity prices go up, consumers got up in arms because they're the ones who buy this stuff.

Katie: Right.

Esther: And the prices go up and their salaries aren't going up. So how are they gonna afford gas on either the same or, you know, in some cases, lesser salaries. What they were supposing that the nasty people on Wall Street were doing this because the Commodity Futures Trading Commission found out that it was the speculation that was driving up oil prices, not actual prices. So people were speculating on all these prices and that wasn't the actual price but it was driving up the stock prices, which in turn was driving up the price of oil for all of us and we couldn't put it in our cars.

Katie: Oh my gosh.

Esther: So that is –

Katie: The conspiracy's kind of true.

Esther: Conspiracy absolutely true.

Katie: But in a different way than most people give credit for. Although people aren't really gonna care when they're driving big pickup trucks, spending $80.00 on a tank of gas –

Esther: Right.

Katie: - exactly who and the they – mysterious they group – is in charge.

Esther: Yeah.

(Laughter)

Katie: Brought this down. Good Lord.

Esther: Yeah. I know. So the next one he talks about is Goldman-Sachs as a giant vampire squid.

Katie: (Laughter)

Esther: Now, the person who actually coined this phrase "Goldman-Sachs is a giant vampire squid," his name is Matt Taibbi. He writes for Rolling Stone and he basically shed some light on Goldman-Sachs and how they have this kinda incestuous relationship with the government in general and they have this way of coming out on top in every business situation. Look, we've got Bear Stearns that goes under. We've got the Lehman Brothers going under but somehow Goldman-Sachs –

Katie: They're still sittin' pretty, more or less.

Esther: Yeah. So what's up with that? And the plausibility, according to him, is a four out of five, which is pretty high.

Katie: Okay.

Esther: And his essential point, this guy Matt Taibbi, is that Goldman did have a key role in the mortgage derivatives fiasco and that its tentacles are just spread through government. Throughout the eons, you know, Goldman-Sachs has their little hand in everything that the government does.

Katie: Hmm.

Esther: And his point is even further established because Adam Storch, this 29-year-old guy, he's an ex-Goldman-Sachs executive –

Katie: Wait, 29-year-old executive?

Esther: Uh huh.

Katie: Holy cow.

Esther: Listen to this. He's the Chief Operating Officer of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Katie: Good Lord!

Esther: Enforcement Division. Yeah. So –

Katie: I'm such a slacker. (Laughter)

Esther: I know. So doesn't that make you feel bad about yourself?

Katie: Yes!

Esther: Well, if you work for Goldman-Sachs, you'd have a nice job.

Katie: Woo! Yeah.

Esther: Give you a lotta money. Nice salary, nice title. He's saying this is probably true, also.

Katie: So, whereas he was actually saying that, you know, it's a vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, maybe that's a slight hyperbolic statement.

Esther: Yeah. Over-exaggeration.

Katie: Rather, rather it's just wrapped around the United States government.

Esther: Right.

Katie: Not the face of humanity.

Esther: No.

Katie: The US government. (Laughter)

Esther: It doesn't really touch us, you know, on a day-to-day basis, but –

Katie: Right.

Esther: - if you're a conspiracy theorist., this is something you'll want to keep an eye on.

Katie: Yeah. It's pretty hot. Okay.

Esther: So another one. Tim Geithner is in the pocket of the big bankers.

Katie: Hmm.

Esther: What he's suggesting is that there's nothing wrong with Tim Geithner calling up the fat cats at these, you know, financial institutions and chatting with them and exchanging emails.

Katie: Okay.

Esther: And you know, getting some advice from them on – but it makes him look bad.

Katie: Right.

Esther: It makes him look like he's in the pocket of the big bankers. Whether he is or not, it doesn't matter, 'cause that's how it appears to the rest of us.

Katie: Exactly, exactly. And, and he also makes a good point that even though it may not be completely illegal to be getting all this information, the fact is that it does make you appear, whether you are or not, rather beholden to the folks that are kind of giving out said information.

Esther: Exactly.

Katie: So yeah. That's a little bit tricky and I mean, again, plausibility factor in this one is, is five. So all right, maybe Tim is in the pocket but I don't know. Again it's one of those what effect does it really have on us? I don't know.

Esther: Exactly.

Katie: Yeah.

Esther: Well, it has, probably has a pretty big effect if he's chatting with these big bankers all the time and, and exchanging secret information that we aren't privy to.

Katie: Yeah. (Laughter)

Esther: Whether we know it or not, that's the thing about conspiracy theories. You really never know how they affect you.

Katie: Exactly.

Esther: They're going on behind closed doors.

Katie: And what other players, so these are – I mean, yeah. So these are names that we know but it's, yeah. There's so many other little moving, moving pieces, layers.

Esther: And this is why people don't trust the government.

Katie: Exactly. Oh. (Laughter)

Esther: But there are things that you can do within your own company to make sure that the little whispers stay to a very, very low volume.

Katie: Yeah, exactly.

Esther: That's really what we're concerned with is your business.

Katie: Exactly and I mean so maybe it's not juicy conspiracy theories in your office place but I mean something that's kind of akin to that is office gossip.

Esther: Yeah.

Katie: You know what I mean? People that are taking maybe small pieces of information, not seeing the big picture. It can get pretty freaky. Especially when there's a lot of tension; worried about keeping jobs. Worrying about upcoming raises, their friends and family are looking at foreclosures. So I think that there's definitely some important, important tips that we can share with you about how to identify the gossip but also how to control it. You know, how to kinda nip it at the bud, so to speak.

Esther: Yeah, absolutely. I think first and foremost, you just have to keep everybody in the loop. Anyone who needs to be in the loop should be in the loop. You need to let all employees know what's going on at all times and that might seem really simplistic, but just because you know something, don't assume that your employees know it. Don't assume that the two people who sit next to each other know the same information. Make sure that they –

Katie: Exactly.

Esther: - do to level the playing field.

Katie: Yeah.

Esther: So.

Katie: And this may seem a little bit redundant but a lotta times whenever you're sharing important information, you know, whether it's about employees futures, the company's standing, financially – a lotta times you have to say it more than once. And I mean maybe that sounds kinda weird but just mentioning it at the big annual corporate meeting doesn't always cut it. Like you've got to lay it out and maybe even express it in a number of different ways. So –

Esther: Uh huh.

Katie: - that may be annoying for a CEO, but in order to communicate effectively, like you've just got to repeat it.

Esther: Yeah.

Katie: Power in the repetition.

Esther: And I know you talked about this a couple shows back but you mentioned being able to put it all out there, good and bad.

Katie: Yes.

Esther: Because that makes a big difference to employees when they're wondering where their future lies.

Katie: Yeah.

Esther: Are you the kind of CEO who is willing to say, "Look guys, it's not lookin' good"?

Katie: Yeah.

Esther: Or are you the kind of CEO who says, "It's great! Don't worry, everything's fine."

Katie: Woo hoo!

Esther: And then the next day you have to bring someone into your office and let them go.

Katie: Exactly. Exactly.

Esther: That's –

Katie: Or you're locking people out.

Esther: - exactly. That's what really causes the fear to brew.

Katie: Exactly, exactly. So I mean try to pull as few surprise punches as possible.

Esther: Yes.

Katie: I mean, just keep people updated, updated as much as you can and then, you know, either it gets bad or it gets good but at least they'll know. It's a big thing.

Esther: Exactly.

Katie: So something else when you're thinking about the office chitter-chatter, there are just some people – and this is just more the personality profile kind of thing – there are just some people that are more inclined, more disposed, to using gossip as a defense mechanism.

Esther: Yeah.

Katie: So – and I mean this is really heightened, again, during these stressful times. So make sure that you're aware of possible that some of the root causes are of people that are gossiping in the workplace. So I mean gossip may range from, you know, who got what for a holiday bonus check to who's sneaking out for wine after work hours with whom, to you know, I mean, important hiring decisions or – I mean, like it can range from anything and so can people's motivations on why to share certain pieces of false or partial information.

Esther: Yeah.

Katie: So make sure that you're looking at not just the side effect, not just, you know, what occurs because of the gossip but really what's at the heart of it.

Esther: Yeah.

Katie: And I mean sometimes it is just addressing people's unknown fears or concerns and sometimes it could just plain be a hiring problem. It could be a staffing issue.

Esther: Yeah.

Katie: And sometimes, you've got to pull people out that can't be positive. That want to bring others down because they want to build themselves up –

Esther: They're toxic to the environment.

Katie: - and, it's poison.

Esther: It is.

Katie: And sometimes you have to make the tough call and just pull 'em.

Esther: And you know what else I'd say? If it's not working for you – if you just can't get it under control – bring in an expert.

Katie: Yes.

Esther: Bring in a consultant who can be a third party listening tool.

Katie: Yeah.

Esther: To kind of the ombudsman to –

Katie: I like that.

Esther: - to kind of pool all that information and process it properly because you already know these people.

Katie: Yes.

Esther: And you already kind of have these predetermined opinions about how they are going to respond to you.

Katie: Exactly.

Esther: So I would say – I mean great example is Zappos. I know we've talked about them a lot but they have Dr. Vic. He is a life coach and he is a full-time staff member and they call him Dr. Vic and people can go into his office at any time, talk about their goals, talk about their frustrations, about their coworkers, and you know, they're – anything that's going on in their lives.

Katie: It's wonderful.

Esther: And it's just a great resource for them because it clears the air. You know, you get it off your chest. You – then you can go back to work and you can be productive.

Katie: Yeah.

Esther: So – and it's totally confidential. That's another thing – make sure it's confidential.

Katie: That's excellent. That's excellent.

Esther: Make sure the con- consultant isn't going to go back to the boss and –

Katie: Right.

Esther: - tell him everything.

Katie: (Laughter) Yeah, that would not be –

Esther: Yeah. I mean at least you could tell him but, you know.

Katie: Be anonymous.

Esther: You may need to – yeah.

Katie: Exactly. Exactly. Something else that I find kind of relieves some of the gossip pressure. A lot of gossip can be started from, you know, maybe external news sources. You know, say that you do, eventually grow a beautiful giant publicly traded company. If employees are hearing things about your company from the press and not from you – or maybe you're telling them the truth but they're hearing all these crazy things out there that don't make sense, make sure that you openly talk about stuff that's not going on just in your business – that is happening outside, in outside world. And not that you can dictate exactly where people get their news from, but sometimes it's nice to be able to say, "Hey, you're reading gossip sites like Perez Hilton and you're getting your news in really weird places. Let's talk about move valid, you know, places with more journalism, you know, integrity."

Esther: Although I will say –

Katie: Like, –

Esther: - TMZ was the first to break the story about Michael Jackson.

Katie: Okay. See?

Esther: Remember that?

Katie: Yeah. TMZ.

Esther: Unfortunately, it's so hard to decipher between what is false and what is true.

Katie: Exactly.

Esther: So you can unders- but that's – I mean that – leading right back to it, that's why.

Katie: Yeah.

Esther: You have to make sure that your employees know where to get their news and what's right and what's not.

Katie: Yeah, and where the company officially stands on different things and I mean –

Esther: Right.

Katie: - just, yeah just thinking about it. Not just in a, you know, water cooler gossip frame of mind but also, you know, the big stuff that, that weighs in on everybody's decision-making.

Esther: And if you have any tips that we missed, you should let us know at theBusinessMakers.com because we would love to hear them. Actually, theBusinessMakers.com/overtime.

Katie: That's right. We got our own us. (Laughter)

Esther: That's right. So you can leave us comments on the individual segments. Let us know. Did we miss something? Do you have a great tip about how to keep the gossip – do you have a great story, because we would love to hear your stories about –

Katie: Absolutely.

Esther: - what's going on in your company. Are there grumblings? Are there – is it a happy family? What do you do to keep it a happy family? So –

Katie: Uh huh.

Esther: - that's another, that's another segment for another show.

Katie: We'd love to hear. Yeah. That'd be great. (Laughter) So yeah, leave us a comment or connect with us on Twitter at twitter.com/overtimeshow and if you're feeling super geeky, log into Facebook. We're at facebook.com/theBusinessMakers. So a variety of ways to hopefully share a variety of stories that possibly we'll feature one day.

Esther: Absolutely.

Katie: You can be famous.

(Laughter)

Esther: So you've been listening to The BusinessMakers Overtime Show, heard here and online at theBusinessMakers.com. I'm Esther Steinfeld –

Katie: And I'm Katie Laird.

Esther: And we have loved being with you this week.

Katie: Yes. And that's no conspiracy.

(Laughter)

Esther: Have a great week.