“The wisdom of the wise, and the experience of the ages, may be preserved by quotation.”
Browsing my tweetstream I ran into this wonderful website the other day and instantly retweeted it, but also made a note to come back to have a deeper look. On doing so, I decided it was so good that I’d do a quick post to highlight it.
The site, If I Knew Then, is actually also a book written by Artie Buerk, a member of the Harvard Business School (HBS) class of 1963 and contains collected wisdom — all in quotation form — from his classmates, gathered in preparation for their 50th reunion.
In addition to the obvious advantage of providing retrospective from an unusually successful group of people, Buerk argues their views are even more relevant because of the massive change that occurred during their lives.
It is, in fact, because these Harvard grads have lived through all these massive changes that their perspectives count for so much. They have been a part of both the “before” and the “after” pictures of a world transformed.
Consider what the world looked like in 1963:
In 1963, the average price of a new home was $12,650 — a fraction of what even the most modest home sells for today. That year, gasoline sold for 22 cents per gallon, the minimum wage was $1 per hour, [and] the average starting salary of a Harvard MBA grad was $9,500.
(Inquiring minds will be happy to know that today’s average starting salary for a Harvard MBA is around $140,000, growing at about twice the rate of inflation since 1963.)
Here are a few of the pithier quotes.
On business:
Surround yourself with the smartest, most ethical people you can find. Set clear goals, communicate them clearly, and delegate.
On careers:
Decide you like what you do, and do it better and smarter than anyone else. If you can’t, change your career. Don’t create an expensive lifestyle — living modestly frees you to make appropriate choices.
On leadership:
The best leaders I’ve seen have been as or more knowledgeable than anyone else about the business and the environment in which it operates. They have a clear vision they can communicate to others, and they make decisions easily. On a personal level they are easy-going, don’t take themselves too seriously, admit their mistakes, and are quick to give others credit. They have high standards, clearly articulated, to which they hold their people.
On happiness and success:
Success is when you can spend 90 percent of your time doing the things you want to do and only 10 percent doing things you have to do. Most people’s lives are just the opposite.
On life’s lessons:
There is no substitute for integrity. In a world where greed and taking shortcuts seem to be major themes, there is nothing that can replace one’s reputation. The ability to look back on life and say, “I did it the right way” is a treasure. There is no do-over when you lose your integrity and reputation.
“There is no substitute for integrity. In a world where greed and taking shortcuts seem to be major themes, there is nothing that can replace one’s reputation.” Amen.
Reblogged this on Simply. Finance and commented:
Wise life principles