No doubt you've heard the phrase "You can't polish a turd" -- meaning no matter how good you try to make something look, people can still tell it's crap. Well apparently it's not true!

In a sad moment for integrity in communication, last night's episode of Mythbusters revealed that a Japanese art form called hikaru dorodango - which involves polishing of balls of dirt to a Pledge-like sheen - also works on animal droppings. With enough time, effort, water and gentle, consistent rubbing, you can make a pile of dung shine like the top of the Chrysler building!

Of course, marketers, politicians and Enron executives have been trying this for centuries, and kudos to them...it works!

The same episode of Mythbusters also revealed that the old business adage "hit the ground running" is actually a bad thing. Apparently, the friction caused by hitting the ground while moving, whether on foot, on a bike or in a car, gets you off to a worse start than if you had just started from a dead stop. So forget about "getting up to speed", spend your time polishing turds...you'll be much better off!