The Post Office. And advertising.

My brilliant friend Tore just sent me a note about the Post Office cutting back service (I assume from three days a month to two) due to the recession. That struck Tore, and me, as egregiously counter-intuitive in that inexplicable cost-benefit analysis way that only MBAs can concoct.

Here's what's going to happen if the post office gets its way and cuts back on service. Customers who need the service will find alternatives. Those alternatives will prove effective and more customers will then decide to go with the alternative more often, leading to a further decline in post office business that will necessitate a further cut in service. And so it goes.

Whether you run a post office of an ad agency, the only way to survive a downturn is to provide more service. And perhaps fire your MBAs.