“Business is business,” says the man vowed to that life, and so it is unquestionably, but equally, personality is personality. Leaving the latter out of consideration will throw business calculations about as far astray as those of the astronomer who does not allow for personal equations. This the successful man of affairs fully understands.
When it can be recognized there is nothing more interesting than watching the actual consultation of a business man with the promptings of his won mind’s equations. Such power of consultation is not possessed by all and is invisible with many of those who have it.
I remember hearing a young business man describe such a rare revelation in an interview with an older business friend known as the keenest financier. The proposition which the young man had to present was reasonable, seemingly sure of success, and he himself believed in it enthusiastically.
“I laid it before the old fellow,” he said, “one by one meeting and explaining the vexed points he raised. He ceased questioning me finally because the patent value of the proposition seemed proved so far as words go. He nodded affirmation as each heading was checked off. I felt emboldened to ask: ‘What do you think of it, sir?’ And then I saw a curious sight. The old fellow sat motionless, looking away into space, his blue eyes growing innocent and far away as a child’s who is listening to a distant and familiar voice. I could have sworn that he heard something which I did not. Finally he turned to me with a smile and shook his head. ‘I can’t exactly believe in your plan,’ he said. I sat staring at him. I knew, and he knew, that his reason was convinced; it was an instinct alone that held the old man back–an instinct in which he superstitiously trusted and on which he obstinately acted. It was the most extraordinary thing I ever saw. The more so that events have proved the warning voice gave him a private information which was more than correct. The plan failed dismally, as I too well know.”
Extraordinary or not, those who come in contact with successful business men will see the same phenomenon repeated over and over in greater or less degree. Call it a genius for affairs or what you will, this curious power of divination remains still as unexplained a mystery as any other kind of second sight.
It’s interesting that the author of the article doesn’t seem to think that experience counts; that in order to be good at “business” one needs supernatural support. I prefer to think of it as a learned ability to process seemingly unrelated bits — an aptitude for pattern recognition.
The article sounds familiar, too. How many airport books are there that idealize “men of business” and assume that there is something beyond aptitude and training in their success?