Talks to Watch

The Wire: The parable of the bowls of shit.

329K views · Feb 23, 2011 · 2:16 · 0 HN recommenders · 3 mentions · discussed 2012–2019

A clip from The Wire (season 4, episode 7) in which a former mayor tells Tommy Carcetti about having to "eat shit" from each constituency during his term. It is a parable about the unpleasant compromises of political leadership.

Why Hacker News points people here: Cited as a parable that leaders must absorb criticism and do the unpleasant work nobody else will.

“regardless of the size of the organization, its leaders are the ones who must deal with the stuff no one else can or wants to tackle.”HN comment, 2012

What Hacker News said 3

Cites itcs702Jun 2012

“regardless of the size of the organization, its leaders are the ones who must deal with the stuff no one else can or wants to tackle.”

Parable that leaders must handle the unpleasant work nobody else will

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This article reminds me a bit of 'the parable of the silver bowls:' this video -- regardless of the size of the organization, its leaders are the ones who must deal with the stuff no one else can or wants to tackle.

in “You're not the CEO - You're the Fucking Janitor” · view on HN
Cites itrandycupertinoMar 2017

Scene on how a mayor must smile and eat criticism

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The whole thing reminds me of when Tommy Carcetti becoming mayor scene from the Wire. The old outgoing mayor is giving him some advice and he basically explains that when you're mayor you have to smile and eat shit from everybody- the unions, the lobbyists, the press, the teachers, the churches... and smile and act gracious while you're doing it. this video Travis should have just smiled and eaten this guys shit, because that's just part of being CEO. "Thank you for your feedback, we'll look into it. Keep up the good work and thanks for the ride!"

JokeSharlinJan 2019
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I don't understand her endgame either. Or how she can handle the stress. Her predecessor basically ordered the biggest bowl of shit [1] in the recent history and then bailed out. Now May's job is to eat it all. Masochistic. [1] this video

in “Brexit Deal Fails in Parliament” · view on HN