Warren Buffett《Berkshire Hathaway 1988 Letter to Shareholders》· 1988 Chairman's Letter · Investing
As a partial offset to the drag that our growing capital base exerts upon returns, we have a very important advantage now that we lacked 24 years ago. Then, all our capital was tied up in a textile business with inescapably poor economic characteristics. Today part of our capital is invested in some really exceptional businesses.
Having to sweep out the operating-room in the mornings, the boys had an opportunity of practicing upon the telegraph instruments before the operators arrived. This was a new chance. I soon began to play with the key and…
Having to sweep out the operating-room in the mornings, the boys had an opportunity of practicing upon the telegraph instruments before the operators arrived. This was a new chance. I soon began to play with the key and…
Adam Smith：The Wealth of Nations, Book IV, Chapter VIII, Paragraph 1530
Adam Smith《The Wealth of Nations》· Book IV, Chapter VIII · Investing
Coals may be considered both as a material of manufacture, and as an instrument of trade. Heavy duties, accordingly, have been imposed upon their exportation, amounting at present (1783) to more than five shillings the ton, or more than fifteen shillings the chaldron, Newcastle measure; which is, in most cases, more than the original value of the commodity at the coal-pit, or even at the shipping port for exportation.
Having to sweep out the operating-room in the mornings, the boys had an opportunity of practicing upon the telegraph instruments before the operators arrived. This was a new chance. I soon began to play with the key and…
Engineers must master technology rather than be distracted from it.
Context
Ren used the blunt phrase “wasting food” to insist that engineers must actually understand technology. He was warning against the distraction of engineers by politics or other non-technical work, not dismissing the value of management. For Huawei, the lesson is that specialist expertise must be protected and put to productive use.
Today's question
In your organization, are specialists allowed to specialize—or are they pulled into endless meetings?
John D. Rockefeller：Random Reminiscences of Men and Events, Excerpt 76
John D. Rockefeller《Random Reminiscences of Men and Events》· Chapter IV · Leadership
The story of the early history of the oil trade is too well known to bear repeating in detail. The cleansing of crude petroleum was a simple and easy process, and at first the profits were very large. Naturally, all sorts of people went into it: the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick-maker began to refine oil, and it was only a short time before more of the finished product was put on the market than could possibly be consumed. The price went down and down until the trade was threatened with ruin. It seemed absolutely necessary to extend the market for oil by exporting to foreign countries, which required a long and most difficult development; and also to greatly improve the processes of refining so that oil could be made and sold cheaply, yet with a profit, and to use as by-products all of the materials which in the less-efficient plants were lost or thrown away.