Looking through my notes I came across the attached. It was written by a friend of mine, Ian Page, some years ago. Some truths transcend.
- Should be well-informed about some vendors and products, but identified with none
- Should have been an expert at something, but have acquired an understanding of the limits of expertise
- Should be eager to improve things for the Company’s customers, but be resigned to never getting near a customer
- Should be undeterred by complexity, but seek to explain it to an intelligent 8 year old
- Should have the academic’s facility for abstraction, but the politician’s feel for the possible
- Should be at home in large organizations, but preserve the ownership perspective of the self-employed
- Should be effective in groups and teams, but willing to stand with an unpopular position
- Should have been an entrepreneur at one time, but have failed as well as succeeded
- Should be skeptical, but enthusiastic
- Should be industrious as a matter of practice, but lazy as a matter of principle
- Should sketch poetically, and write graphically
- Should be able to see forests, or trees, but never at the same time
- Should be willing to make a personal investment in an idea, but write it off if necessary
- Should be willing to express a reasoned opinion on anything, but even more willing to hear a better one
- Should be able to take outrageous ideas seriously, and treat serious issues outrageously
- Should be willing to see an ugly job through on principle, but should also be willing to resign on principle
- Should have an urge to teach, but a stronger urge to learn
- Should be able to spot the deja vu in the avant garde
- Should be able to find quick rewards in small tasks to compensate for the slowness of rewards in the large ones
- Should have a philosophy degree from a technical institute, or an engineering degree from a seminary
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