Vice chairman of product development Bob Lutz diagnoses the sickness at the heart of American business: data-driven cost optimization.

I know some cable guys that could take a lesson from this article. Guess who I am talking about? Just replace "Car Guys" with "Cable Guys" in the title of his new book. Car Guys Versus Bean Counters: The Battle for the Soul of American Business, by Bob Lutz, the former vice chairman of global product development for GM.