October 30, 2007
Business and Life are Built upon Successful Mediocrity
An amusingly dated (and in some ways, deeply depressing) article, Why I Never Hire Brilliant Men, written in 1924. These are the five things the author, a wholesale grocery magnate, looked for in the men he hired:
- Has he good health?
- Has he saved some money?
- Does he talk and write effectively?
- Does he finish what he starts?
- Is he courageous?
Cat: | Time: 3:40 pm (utc+8)
October 30th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
How Did THIS Guy Get in Charge?
October 30th, 2007 at 8:57 pm
appletoast: Yes, and I think it was Leon Levy who wrote about everyone on Wall Street being “someone’s idiot nephew.”
October 31st, 2007 at 2:45 am
So what’s “the greatest organization in human history”?
October 31st, 2007 at 5:19 am
steve: i think the author was referring to King Arthur’s knights of the round table.
October 31st, 2007 at 7:15 am
I think he was referring to the 12 Apostles of Christ.
October 31st, 2007 at 9:25 am
I second the Apostles but like Burt’s knights of the round table idea too. I’m amazed you guys read the whole thing; are you as idle as I am? ;-)
October 31st, 2007 at 10:42 am
Perhaps Merrill Lynch would have done better using that list for its CEO search - as it is they’re paying a guy $160 million to leave after losing a couple billion - he would not have passed #2 I’m thinking.
October 31st, 2007 at 11:06 am
contrary canary: Why save when you get $160 million+ when they kick you out the door? And it must have taken a lot of courage to sit there during the write-off of eight billion. ;-)