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The article "A Matter of Emphasis" (July), which discussed the prevalence of reporting "pro forma" and "adjusted" earnings numbers and the questionable effect Regulation G has had on curbing these practices, confirmed the disturbing trend that I have noticed myself.
Maybe if we apply this pro forma concept to other things that happen in our daily lives, we can see the problems and the hilarity that could result. For example, imagine being on the golf course and giving yourself a pro forma par because you want to exclude the shot you hit in the water, the shot where you nearly hit the course marshall, and the other three shots where you almost broke your wrists trying to get out of the sand trap.
You justified excluding the extra five shots from your score because normally that doesn't happen. How about calling up your car insurers and telling them they can't increase your rates due to your recent speeding violations, because your pro forma driving record doesn't reflect this, since you normally don't speed. I believe the practice of publishing pro forma numbers not only taints the credibility of the immediate financial information, but it also has the unintended effect of chipping away at the hard-earned favorable reputation of all financial professionals.
The pro forma practice reminds me of the old accountant joke (which I strongly dislike) in which an engineer and an accountant are asked what two plus two equals. The accountant replies, "What do you want it to be?" The reason people keep repeating this joke is because, unfortunately, there is some truth in it.
Publishing pro forma numbers does not help!
Dave Muir
Accounting Manager
U.S. Borax Inc.
Los Angeles
Only Converse
Your article concerning live presentation skills ("You're On!" July) was spot-on concerning the threat of "disastrous trips to the microphone." We err, however, in concluding that the universal answer to this problem is communications training.
Coaches can help to discover the charisma some of us have kept hidden, but not all executives have an inner game-show host waiting to be freed. It is far more effective to address this problem from the other direction: change the task. Executive appearances yield superior results as conversations rather than speeches. The same executive who comes across as "cold, aloof, uninterested, and uninteresting" when standing at the lectern can appear friendly, engaged, accessible, and confident in a conversation.
As the chair of hundreds of corporate and government events, I have found this to be the perfect solution for all executives. Stepping to the lectern to make a speech is an extremely risky enterprise for noncharismatic individuals. Speech writing, preparing, and practicing is also time-consuming. Sitting onstage in a normal conversation where the interviewer gives the executive the cues he or she needs to deliver information in a natural, conversational manner requires less preparation and delivers uniformly better results for all involved.
Scott Shuster
Owner
The Shuster Group
New York
Knowledge, Not Gizmos
I read "Director's Cut" (TechWatch, July) with amazement. The last thing board members need to fulfill their job is another gizmo. What they do need is training and a better understanding of what their roles and responsibilities are. Ask any board member you know the last time he or she read his or her respective company's bylaws, shareholders' rights agreement, or its articles of incorporation. These "solutions" provide nothing that can't already be accomplished via phone, E-mail, and a half-decent secure Website.
Good governance requires active and independent-minded board members who understand their responsibilities and who are willing to challenge management when necessary and support them when appropriate.
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