Friday, January 27, 2006

Smarties

Malcolm Gladwell, the author of the bestseller "Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking," examined the downside of intelligence in this New Yorker article a few years ago.

An excerpt:

"The management of Enron, in other words, did exactly what the consultants at McKinsey said that companies ought to do in order to succeed in the modern economy. It hired and rewarded the very best and the very brightest--and it is now in bankruptcy. The reasons for its collapse are complex, needless to say. But what if Enron failed not in spite of its talent mind-set but because of it? What if smart people are overrated?"

The McKinsey stories and the example of the submarine war in the north Atlantic are fascinating.

No comments: