There's wisdom in the old saying, "If you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all." Sure, there's a time and a place when a little salty talk might be called for — I know I've directed some of my most heartfelt, nastiest words on the corner of the bed frame after whacking my knee on it in the middle of the night — but generally speaking, such words tend to invite more trouble that it's worth.
And for one CEO, a decision to speak up when it would have been best not to speak at all has proven costly after the exchange went viral.