(The next post today will address the Underachieve issue directly. This one describes why Wilfred Brown is important to listen to. We’ll refer to these things later.)

As Paul Holstrom pointed out, my telling of the story about the Union guys was a bit off. They had been having a pint and were talking about the CEO’s current problem. Not only that, but they felt secure enough that they could go to the corporate consultant with their ideas.

Let’s put this into context: at the end of the war, Glacier Metal Company was Europe’s largest ball-bearing manufacturer. Might not seem like much, but Glacier made bearings for a variety of industries, including automotive (where the company got its start in the States). Wilfred Brown had been thrust into the role of Chief Executive at the age of 29 by a series of unfortunate deaths. He wasn’t even the right politics: Mant writes that during the war, Brown was “attracted to the newly-formed Commonwealth party“, a very left-leaning party. This is not your typical industrialist.

Eric Trist of the Tavistock Institute described the problems Brown was confronting in his introduction to Brown’s Explorations In Management:
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TUAW reported that the NYPL joined the iTunes U pages. What’s incredible is that this includes some of their business presentations and audio, including such things as “Accounting and Bookkeeping Essentials” and “Credit Management and Credit Repair for Entrepreneurs”. A worthwhile look for those of you who are starting up new businesses in this awful environment.