218 Management Stripped Bare vice-president (SVP) or executive vice-president (EVP). Title inflation may be fine at the bottom of the organization. It is not acceptable at the top of the organization. Always keep a gold standard title, which everyone can aspire to. The VP must want to become an SVP, and the SVP must want to become an EVP. Outsiders probably neither know the difference nor care. Internally, people care passionately. At some level, the title signals that the manager has finally arrived in corporate Valhalla. This is in the land of the gods. Give this title out sparingly: keep people hungry. Make sure that the few that get into Valhalla really do represent the role models for the business. If vanity counts so much, make it work for the business. Training versus experience There are three sorts of formal, off-the-job, training: technical training;