The Moose in the Room

A furry brown moose with orange antlers sits on the desk of Centocor CEO Neal Fowler's Horsham, Pa., office. It was a gag gift from a colleague, prompted by Fowler's habit of using the phrase, "Let's put the moose on the table," during meetings. "A moose is something big and smelly and ornery," explains Fowler, whose accent hints at Southern roots. "'Putting the moose on the table' means talking about things that are difficult or uncomfortable." The phrase has been used in management circles for years, and it was recently popularized in a book of that title by Randall Tobias, former CEO of Eli Lilly and Company.