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Getting Away with Murder

12 May, 2010 by James Lawther Leave a Comment

A Chinese man, Zhao Zuohai, who was sentenced to death and spent 11 years behind bars for murder has been acquitted and given £65,000 compensation.

In 1999 a neighbour he had fought with disappeared and a headless body was found.  Police assumed that the body was the neighbour’s and, under pressure to find the murderer, beat a confession out of Zhao.

The man he was accused of murdering turned up alive and well earlier this year.

This story is all the more shocking because almost exactly the same thing happened in China 5 years earlier.

The story highlights 3 interesting lessons.

1. Be very explicit in your assumptions.
2. Be very careful with your incentives.
3. Learn from your mistakes.

Obvious really, it couldn’t happen where you work; could it?

Chinese Police

Image by faungg

Filed Under: Blog, Employee Engagement Tagged With: assumptions, targets, Zhao Zuohai

About the Author

James Lawther
James Lawther

James Lawther is a middle-aged, middle manager.

To reach this highly elevated position he has worked in numerous industries, from supermarket retailing to tax collecting.  He has had several operational roles, including running the night shift in a frozen pea packing factory and carrying out operational research for a credit card company.

As you can see from his C.V. he has either a wealth of experience or is incapable of holding down a job.  If the latter is true this post isn’t worth a minute of your attention.

Unfortunately, the only way to find out is to read it and decide for yourself.

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