ShmoopTube

00:00

[ musical flourish ]

00:03

And here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by the river Nile. [a man standing by a river]

00:07

It took us a while to admit how much we liked it,

00:10

but I guess we were in...

00:12

denial.

00:13

Hah.

00:14

All right, first, read the following sentence. [a squeaky toy duck and a crocodile in the river]

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His pragmatic management method has led to his professional success.

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"Pragmatic" most nearly means, uh, what?

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And here are your potential answers.

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Once upon a time, good management just meant having lots of slaves build your pyramid. [man dressed as an Egyptian standing on a hand cart]

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Now that sort of things sends you to HR.

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So what's the best path to success in this non-slave-driven economy?

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Well, lenient means relaxed.

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And while being a lenient boss might make you popular with your employees, [employees dancing in the office, lit with disco light]

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execs won't be so happy with Toga Party Tuesdays.

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Uh, nor will the employees when the company goes bankrupt.

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Forthright means direct or outspoken.

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And this can be good in some circumstances,

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not so good in others.

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Honesty is great and all, but, uh, maybe you oughta think [a man being sucked by a large tube]

01:00

before speaking your mind with people making thrice your salary. Yeah.

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And fraudulent means fake or dishonest.

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Fraudulence may be great if you're working at, say,

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Enron. [man flipping a slab of gold]

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Those are the guys who went to jail. Remember Enron?

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But for most companies, that's not an asset.

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That leaves us with A - practical.

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Pragmatic means practical.

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It refers to good decision-making based on experience. [employees having a conference]

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These are skills deeply valued at most companies.

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As long as they're not Comcast. Heh. Sorry, guys.

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So, uh, A is our correct answer.

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And if you don't believe us, well, you might wanna step out of the river. [man holding a log and floating in the river]

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[ haha ]

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