“Procrastination also can be a way of self-handicapping: if you don't do a great job, you can always say to yourself, "If I'd only started sooner, I'd have been able to produce something excellent."” IfsWayHas BeensSelfAbleJobsProduceExcellentProcrastinationGreat Job Author:James Surowiecki
“I do think to some extent multitasking is a way of fooling ourselves that we're being exceptionally efficient.” ThinkingWayEfficientMultitaskingFooling Ourselves Author:James Surowiecki
“The typical American corporation is a shareholders' republic the same way that China is a peoples' republic.” WayChinaCorporationsRepublicTypicalShareholders Author:James Surowiecki
“A long-term crisis, after a certain point, no longer seems like a crisis. It seems like the way things are.” WayLongSeemsCertainTermCrisisLong Term Author:James Surowiecki
“Wall Street has come a long way from the insider-dominated world that was blown apart by the Great Depression.” WorldWayLongStreetsWallLong WayGreat DepressionInsiders Author:James Surowiecki
“The world's central banks and the International Monetary Fund still have vaults full of bullion, even though currencies are no longer backed by gold. Governments hold on to it as a kind of magic symbol, a way of reassuring people that their money is real.” PeopleWorldWayKindStillsRealGovernmentMagicGoldInternationalSymbolsFundCurrencyMonetaryReassuringCentral BanksVaults Author:James Surowiecki
“A general principle of good taxation is that similar jobs, and similar kinds of compensation, should be taxed the same way: otherwise, the government is effectively subsidizing some jobs over others.” WayShouldKindGovernmentJobsPrinciplesTaxationCompensation Author:James Surowiecki
“Critics of consumer capitalism like to think that consumers are manipulated and controlled by those who seek to sell them things, but for the most part it's the other way around: companies must make what consumers want and deliver it at the lowest possible price.” ThinkingWayWantCompanyCapitalismSellsCriticsConsumersControlledLowest Author:James Surowiecki
“I started in business journalism from the outside, so when I started writing about markets and business, I was struck by the fact that markets seemed to work well even though people are often irrational, lack good information and are not perfect in the way they think about decisions.” PeopleThinkingWayWritingWellsFactsDecisionPerfectInformationJournalismIrrationalNot PerfectGood Information Author:James Surowiecki
“In industries where a lot of competitors are selling the same product - mangoes, gasoline, DVD players - price is the easiest way to distinguish yourself. The hope is that if you cut prices enough you can increase your market share, and even your profits. But this works only if your competitors won't, or can't, follow suit.” IfsWayEnoughCuttingPlayerShareProductsIndustryIncreaseProfitSellingSuitsCompetitorsDvdsGasoline Author:James Surowiecki
“Intellectual-property rules are clearly necessary to spur innovation: if every invention could be stolen, or every new drug immediately copied, few people would invest in innovation. But too much protection can strangle competition and can limit what economists call 'incremental innovation' - innovations that build, in some way, on others.” PeopleIfsWayToo MuchDrugLimitsIntellectualInnovationCompetitionPropertyProtectionInventionEconomistStolenSpursIntellectual Property Author:James Surowiecki
“Linux is a complex example of the wisdom of crowds. It's a good example in the sense that it shows you can set people to work in a decentralized way - that is, without anyone really directing their efforts in a particular direction - and still trust that they're going to come up with good answers.” PeopleWayStillsShowsAnswersEffortExampleParticularComplexesCome UpCrowdsGood ExamplesLinux Author:James Surowiecki
“On the simplest level, telecommuting makes it harder for people to have the kinds of informal interactions that are crucial to the way knowledge moves through an organization. The role that hallway chat plays in driving new ideas has become a cliche of business writing, but that doesn't make it less true.” PeopleWayWritingKindIdeasPlayMovingLevelsRolesOrganizationHarderDrivingCrucialInteractionNew IdeasSimplestClicheHallwaysBusiness Writing Author:James Surowiecki
“Unlike most government programs, Social Security and, in part, Medicare are funded by payroll taxes dedicated specifically to them. Some of the tax revenue pays for current benefits; anything that's left over goes into trust funds for the future. The programs were designed this way for political reasons.” WayReasonGovernmentPoliticalLeftSocialPaySecurityTaxesBenefitsProgramCurrentsFundDedicatedSocial SecurityRevenueMedicareGovernment ProgramsPayrollTrust FundsPayroll Tax Author:James Surowiecki
“Paradoxically, the best way for a group to be smart is for each person in it to think and act as independently as possible.” ThinkingWayPersonsGroupsSmartBest WayBeing Smart Author:James Surowiecki
“Unfortunately, there is something of a flaw in this idealized picture of the way the scientific community discovers truth. And the flaw is that most scientific work never gets noticed. Study after study has shown that most scientific papers are read by almost no one, while a small number of papers are read by many people.” PeopleWayScienceCommunityNumbersStudyPaperFlawsPapersSmall Numbers Book:The Wisdom of Crowds Source: The Wisdom of Crowds
“Diversity and independence are important because the best collective decisions are the product of disagreement and contest, not consensus or compromising. An intelligent group, especially when confronted with cognition problems, does not ask its members to modify their positions in order to let the group reach a decision everyone can be happy with. Instead…the best way for a group to be smart is for each person in it to think and act as independently as possible.” ThinkingWayPersonsDoeImportantProblemOrderAsksDecisionGroupsPositionProductsMembersDiversitySmartIntelligentIndependenceBest WayCompromiseCollectivesContestsConsensusDisagreementBeing SmartCognition Author:James Surowiecki
