After conducting many thorough studies (OK, not really), I have determined that there is one trait that can guarantee the success of a businessman: the ability to see the future. Sadly enough, no one can do that. This means that nobody is guaranteed success; even the best businessmen. Obviously, there is a lot of skill involved in doing business; but any success received comes, at least in part, because of some luck. For example, if Digital Research had signed with IBM, Microsoft would not be what it is today. If Apple had never won an anti-trust lawsuit against Microsoft, Apple could have died years ago. Two of the greatest software companies ever are what they are now because of luck. On he other side, Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari, didn't invest in Apple because he didn't think Steve Jobs could cut it as a CEO. If he could see the future, he could have avoided that bad luck. So the moral of the story is: unless you can see the future, no success is a given.
Article that inspired this post: Atari founder: Tim Cook isn't the next Steve Jobs
If only I could see the future... I guess one benefit to not seeing the future is that the future is not set in stone, so you can change it to be whatever you want.
ReplyDeleteI think looking into the future would save everybody. :) I agree
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