“Unlike private enterprise which quickly modifies its actions to meet emergencies - unlike the shopkeeper who promptly finds the wherewith to satisfy a sudden demand - unlike the railway company which doubles its trains to carry a special influx of passengers; the law-made instrumentality lumbers on under all varieties of circumstances at its habitual rate. By its very nature it is fitted only for average requirements, and inevitably fails under unusual requirements.” MadeActionLawCompanyFailingSpecialCircumstancesDemandTrainRateAverageVarietyEnterpriseUnusualRequirementsEmergenciesPassengersHabitualRailwayPrivate EnterpriseLumberShopkeepers Book:Essays: Scientific, Political and Speculative Source: Essays: Scientific, Political and Speculative
“That man is guilty of impertinence who considers not the circumstances of time, or engrosses the conversation, or makes himself the subject of his discourse, or pays no regard to the company he is in.” MenPayCompanySubjectsCircumstancesConversationRegardGuiltyDiscourseImpertinence Author:Marcus Tullius Cicero
“You will never ever, in any circumstance, win any struggle at any time. That being said, we have a long way to go. At the moment, the battle over network neutrality is not to completely eliminate the telephone and cable companies. We are not at that point yet. But the ultimate goal is to get rid of the media capitalists in the phone and cable companies and to divest them from control.” WayLongSaidMomentsWinningGoalCompanyStruggleMediaCircumstancesBattleUltimatePhonesCapitalistTelephonesLong WayCablesUltimate GoalNeutralityLong Way To Go Author:Robert Waterman McChesney
“He had a cringing manner, but a very harsh voice; and his blandest smiles were so extremely forbidding, that to have had his company under the least repulsive circumstances, one would have wished him to be out of temper that he might only scowl.” CharacterMightVoiceInterestingCompanyCircumstancesTemperHarshInteresting Characters Book:Delphi Complete Works of Charles Dickens (Illustrated) Source: Delphi Complete Works of Charles Dickens (Illustrated)
“The most effective leaders of companies in transition are the quiet, unassuming people whose inner wiring is such that the worst circumstances bring out their best. They're unflappable, they're ready to die if they have to. But you can trust that, when bad things are happening, they will become clearheaded and focused.” PeopleIfsDiesCompanyLeaderWorstReadyCircumstancesQuietHappeningsManagementFocusedBad ThingsTransitionReady To DieWiringUnassuming Author:James C. Collins
“The more I move among workers and factories and other plants, the stronger I become convinced that it is advisable to have as [a company] president a practical man, preferably one who has risen from the very bottom of the ladder. Workmen, I find, have far more respect for such men than for collar-and-cuff executives knowing little or nothing about the different kinds of work which have to be done by the workers. Wherever circumstances call for placing a financier or lawyer or a papa's son at the head of a large organization, he should be made chairman or some other title, but not president.” MenShouldKindLittlesMadeDifferentDoneMovingPresidentCompanyKnowingSonCircumstancesOrganizationStrongerPlantWorkersBottomConvincedLawyerPracticalsTitlesExecutivesFactoriesDifferent KindsLaddersChairmanRisenCollarsPapaWorkmenCuffsFinanciersAdvisable Author:B. C. Forbes
“This idea of anticipation is key to investing and to business generally. You can't wait for an opportunity to become obvious. You have to think, "Here's what other people and companies have done under certain circumstances. Now, under these new circumstances, how is this management likely to behave?"” PeopleThinkingIdeasDoneCertainOpportunityWaitingCompanyKeysCircumstancesManagementInvestingObviousBehaveAnticipation Author:Edward Lampert