by Race in the Workplace special correspondent Erica

Coffee Mug Fuels Controversy - Hartford Courant
“A coffee mug used by Department of Public Safety Commissioner John A. Danaher III showing the Confederate flag in a Civil War battle has angered black leaders who said it was insensitive to display a symbol of hate, particularly when the state police have been under fire for complaints of racism.”

The Stepford Staff: Or How It Happens That a Boss Is Cloned - Wall Street Journal’s Cubicle Culture (subscription)
“Yet managers, or anyone recruiting, are often the last to recognize the irrelevant behavior. Prof. Chatman’s research shows there’s no limit to the ’suck up till you die’ approach to authority. That means flattery, including its sincerest form, is lapped up by bosses who view it as a sign they’ve successfully influenced their people. That may explain why ‘people who have no interest at all in golf, or in walking around a pollen field of a golf course in th