Final Word from Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Opportunities are opening up for a new breed of manager. Gone
are the days when a promising young managing director or even
partner in an important foreign company leaves for the Czech
public sector because of the once-in-a-lifetime chance to "make
a stealing" without the slightest risk of going to prison. No
names will be mentioned, but Martin Dvořák and Petr Žaluda
come to mind. No longer shall a headhunter devoid of talent but
full of connections charge high fees for placing people whose
specialties are playing golf and playing it fast and loose with the
rules. The public sector - DPP, for example - now demands a
new kind of wunderkind. He or she must be the product of a real
"tender" and know how to order forensic audits and speak
platitudes to transparency and fair play. But under no
circumstances - none - shall he or she actually return to
anything that transpired in the past.[Czech Republic DP Praha transit company Prague Czech
Railways]
Glossary of difficult words
ODS - this applies to other political parties as well, but we used ODS because of the situation at DP Praha transit company;
wunderkind - a person who achieves great success when relatively young;
"make a stealing" - a play on words - more frequent is "make a living" or "make a killing";
no names will be mentioned - this is a joke on the habit of Czech politicians to say they will not do something, only to do that precise thing shortly thereafter;
devoid - entirely lacking or free from;
to play it fast and loose - to do something in a reckless or irresponsible way;
platitude - a banal or trite statement;
to transpire - to occur, happen.