The popular perception of the business world is that dog eats dog, with the executive expecting material rewards to compensate for high levels of stress and risk taking. If you fail—too bad—you had it good for a while. A caricature of course, but like most caricatures it contains a kernel of truth. Sympathy for business colleagues who do fail is not a facility prized by competitively striving senior managers, viz Robert Maxwell's statements on the launch of the second London newspaper, “It's the law of the jungle—the survival of the fittest”.