Apply fresh gilt to the bars of their prison

A sparkling turn of phrase from this post on the FT's management blog. The subject is this book, which sounds more and more interesting.

I once heard a church sermon in which the priest said that you could tell most of what you needed to know about a person from looking at their bank and credit card statements. How they prioritise their spending will tell you how they prioritise their life. So it was with companies. You looked through the numbers for very human traits such as character, resilience, or imagination.

Another point of the post, though, seems to be that few people who do an MBA actually get a chance to change their industry. Surprise, surprise: almost anyone can get into a consulting organization or a bank, but other industries seem to expect their recruits to actually know something about their business.

there is one sparkling example of career reinvention in the shape of a woman who ditched her investment bank to take a lower-paid job with a fashion house