“In 2007, 47 percent of Harvard grads went into finance or consulting.” (Source: David Brooks, “The Power Elite,” NY Times, 02.18.10) BONUS! Quote of the day from the same column: “The meritocracy is based on an overly narrow definition of talent. Our system rewards those who can amass technical knowledge. But this skill is only [...]
This weekend’s Parade magazine features an interesting interview with mega-star Harrison Ford. To my surprise, Ford spends little time talking about mega-ness or stardom. Instead, the carpenter-turned-actor offers some very keen insights on human motivation, especially the elusive and frustrating nature of mastery. “When I was a carpenter, I once worked with this Russian lady [...]
“The really good people want autonomy — you let me do it, and I’ll do it. . . . That’s all they want. They want a chance to do it.” – Gordon Bethune, former CEO of Continental in today’s NY Times
Management theorist Russell Ackoff passed away late last month, leaving behind a lifetime of memorable insights. Here’s one of my favorite, reprised in a good WSJ story about Ackoff’s life and legacy. “All of our social problems arise out of doing the wrong thing righter. The more efficient you are at doing the wrong thing, the wronger you become. [...]
“Strategy is what you choose not to do.”– Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust, with an assist from Michael Porter
In late December, I’ll be rolling out a new book. This one argues that much of what we think we know about human motivation just ain’t so — and then shows how you can use the surprising new science of motivation to transform your life. (For a a tantalizing sneak preview, check out this video.)I’ll [...]
“In 2008, more silicon was consumed globally making solar panels than microchips.”— Tom Friedman, NYT (9/16/09) (HT: Charles Fishman)
“In all the briefing papers prepared for the famous Clinton Little Rock [economic] summit in late 1992, the word Internet never appeared.”– Daniel Gross, Newsweek(HT: Steve Case)
“An economy that is more entrepreneurial, less managerial, would be less subject to the kind of distortions that occur when corporate managers’ compensation is tied to the short-term profit of distant shareholders. For most entrepreneurs, profit is at once a more capacious and a more concrete thing than this. It is a calculation in which [...]
“In periods of economic turmoil, people are hungry and work cheap, and entrenched companies often concentrate on in-house cost-cutting instead of exploring new markets, which can explode with the next turn of the business cycle.”– Wired, “Back to the Garage”
