Shame-based punishment is a strategy that dates back to the 16th century. Thieves or petty criminals were routinely put in stocks and placed in the town square, receiving their comeuppance in the form of verbal ridicule, scorn, and most likely rotten vegetables. That’s the origin of the term laughing stock.

While this form of punishment worked for some, our predecessors found that this punishment only worked on those who cared about their public image. If you had no shame, verbal slings and arrow carry no weight. I think that is the case with General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner.

Earlier this week, President Obama told Wagoner it was time to pack up and go, and go for good reason.

Since Wagoner took the wheel at GM, he’s driven the stock from around $70 a share to under $3, even with car sales at record highs about four years ago. He’s allowed GM’s market share to wither from 28 percent to 22 today, in part by a head-scratching move to push SUVs and big trucks while others were backing fuel economy and hybrid technology.

So it is no wonder why POTUS handed him walking papers as a condition of U.S. taxpayer support. Many believe Wagoner should have had his key to the executive washroom revoked long ago.

Now we are learning that the GM board is on the hook to pay Wagoner more than $20 million in deferred compensation and pension benefits. Perhaps the board was obligated to pay him the money as part of his employment contract, but that does not take away the sting. It doesn’t sound like the public’s hue and cry are having any impact on Wagoner’s conscience either, unlike his brethren at AIG who succumbed to public pressure and returned the cash.

I have a suggestion for President Obama, and one that could save taxpayers billions moving forward, and it involves taking a lesson from Japanese industry. As most students of business know, Japan has had a long history of lifetime employment. When you accepted a job at, say, Mitsubishi, as long as you worked hard, you could expect to hold your job through retirement. Layoffs and terminations were rare until recently.

So what happened at Mitsubishi when an employee repeatedly fouled up, perhaps losing market share, or making decisions that drove stock price down? The company could not fire the person, but they could make them members of the Madogiwa Zoku – The Window Seat Tribe.

Traditional Japanese offices use open-floor designs with most important folks sitting in the center, where all the important activity happens. Rather than getting the ax, poorly performing workers were given ‘window seats’ with little or nothing to do; they sit idle, staring out the window, forced to reflect on their superfluousness. Some quit in shame, others ride the desk until retirement.

So the next time President Obama needs to cut some deadwood out of the executive suites at the automaker, I say don’t fire them and let them cash out. Simply usher them to their new spot next to a window in the lobby, perhaps facing the empty employee parking lot where they can spend the term of their employment -- Think of it as a combination of the Stocks and The Window Seat Tribe.