Glib politicians and CEOs rejoice: research suggests that sidestepping questions can be a good policy if you do it artfully enough.
Todd Rogers, executive director of the Analyst Institute, and Michael Norton, a Harvard Business School professor, looked at public speakers who, when faced with a difficult question, provide a slick answer to a different question that they would rather have been asked.
Their conclusion? Listeners mind this less than a straight answer delivered badly.
Elsewhere:
- McKinsey on why those who try to imitate Toyota’s lean manufacturing often fall short;
- Mastering the art of confrontation (and arguing with Rudy Giuliani);
- The credit crunch can be an opportunity for entrepreneurs as it forces bigger companies to be conservative and possibly shed assets.
Stefan Stern writes a column on Tuesdays on 
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Lucy Kellaway, FT columnist and associate editor, offers her solution to your workplace problems in a column in the Financial Times. In the 
