The board of directors that runs Dennis Publishing will talk earnestly and sensibly about the effect on morale for the rest of the company (usually forgetting to mention their own morale) in the event our proposed new magazine bombs. (Nobody ever mentions the loss to my personal bank balance or my morale.) In reality, Dennis Publishing staff working, say, on The Week or Maxim or Computer Shopper won’t give two hoots if the company’s new car magazine is a sensational flop. But by discussing the matter in such terms, in code if you like, the board gives itself the opportunity to weigh their own
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