On his book Enduring Success: What We Can Learn from the History of Outstanding Corporations
Cover Interview of February 06, 2011
Lastly
Whenever the economy takes a dive in the manner we experienced after the subprime housing crisis, the public, media, and businesspeople seem to wonder why some corporate giants fail while others survive.
This book provides some systematic insights from history. Rather than speculating about potential tips and tricks, the book builds upon careful analysis and recalls insightful stories from the past.
As I talked to managers across the world, and was questioned by journalists about my work, they were always particularly interested in knowing to what extent I thought my insights would help companies in the future.
My answer has always been the same. We have a tendency to view our times as unparalleled and uniquely challenging. In fact, every generation does that.
When Romans learned that Julius Caesar was assassinated in the Senate in 42 B.C. they surely thought the world would come to an end. When, in 1966, Neil Armstrong raised the American flag on the moon, the exploration of space no longer seemed pure science fiction. And, when in 1989, the Berlin Wall tumbled down, millions of people cheered to a new world order.
Yes, every generation faces a unique set of challenges. This, however, does not mean that we cannot learn from past experiences.
The companies studied in Enduring Success survived the Great Depression, two World Wars, and the Oil Crisis. They saw the advent of new technologies such as television, air travel, and the internet. Their history may not provide immediate solutions for specific business’ problems—but it does provide profound insights into how companies can approach the challenges they face and which strategies can help them prevail.
[T]he Holocaust transformed our whole way of thinking about war and heroism. War is no longer a proving ground for heroism in the same way it used to be. Instead, war now is something that we must avoid at all costs—because genocides often take place under the cover of war. We are no longer all potential soldiers (though we are that too), but we are all potential victims of the traumas war creates. This, at least, is one important development in the way Western populations envision war, even if it does not always predominate in the thinking of our political leaders.Carolyn J. Dean, Interview of February 01, 2011
The dominant premise in evolution and economics is that a person is being loyal to natural law if he or she attends to self’s interest and welfare before being concerned with the needs and demands of family or community. The public does not realize that this statement is not an established scientific principle but an ethical preference. Nonetheless, this belief has created a moral confusion among North Americans and Europeans because the evolution of our species was accompanied by the disposition to worry about kin and the collectives to which one belongs.Jerome Kagan, Interview of September 17, 2009
Lastly
Whenever the economy takes a dive in the manner we experienced after the subprime housing crisis, the public, media, and businesspeople seem to wonder why some corporate giants fail while others survive.
This book provides some systematic insights from history. Rather than speculating about potential tips and tricks, the book builds upon careful analysis and recalls insightful stories from the past.
As I talked to managers across the world, and was questioned by journalists about my work, they were always particularly interested in knowing to what extent I thought my insights would help companies in the future.
My answer has always been the same. We have a tendency to view our times as unparalleled and uniquely challenging. In fact, every generation does that.
When Romans learned that Julius Caesar was assassinated in the Senate in 42 B.C. they surely thought the world would come to an end. When, in 1966, Neil Armstrong raised the American flag on the moon, the exploration of space no longer seemed pure science fiction. And, when in 1989, the Berlin Wall tumbled down, millions of people cheered to a new world order.
Yes, every generation faces a unique set of challenges. This, however, does not mean that we cannot learn from past experiences.
The companies studied in Enduring Success survived the Great Depression, two World Wars, and the Oil Crisis. They saw the advent of new technologies such as television, air travel, and the internet. Their history may not provide immediate solutions for specific business’ problems—but it does provide profound insights into how companies can approach the challenges they face and which strategies can help them prevail.
© 2011 Christian Stadler