The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1917-12-20


business presents its own problems,
ana even where the problems seem
similar the same solution is not always
applicable. But certain general prin-
ciples hold the germ of success in all
fields. A prominent financier makes
certain mental qualities the basis of
| his selection of executives, and lays
especial emphasis on Imagination,
judgment and initiative. Discussion of
these qualities is bound to be philo-
sophical 1t can not be scientifically
exact. The essentially practical man
will say that 1t is all very well to talk
about imagination being necessary to
the effective executive, but will want
to know just how is Imagination going
to meet the profile moi his payroll this
week; just how is judgment going to
Eelp him on actual matters of fact
where the answer is hard and fast,
with only one way out, and how is in
itiative going to get him supply of
needed raw materials when there is
none to be had.
The FutiIty of Ultra Conservatism.
Consider for the moment this point
of view ana grant that the objections
are well taken, and that these qualities
are altogether too philosophical and
idealistic to be of value in meeting the
problems of practical business The
alternative issto follow the customary
business path, letting present methods
direct each succeeding step. and fol-
lowing no plan imagined at the outset,
no project preconceived and definitely
outlined in the beginning. Such ac-
ceptance of conventional conditions in
evitably creates the situation SO well
described by H. G. Wells in his analy-
sis of the governmental attitude in
"Mr. Britlng Sees 1t Through"
where Mr.. Drifting says:
I'VE had a government that seemed
guided by the principles of Mr.. Mic
awber, and adopted for it's watchword,
Wait and see. :" We were too
lazy, we We're too. negligent. VT
passed our indolent days leaving every
thing to somebody else. Was this the
incurable British, just as it was the
incurable Britling, quality? ;: Was
the whole prosperity of the British,
the flar-flung empire, the securities,
the busy order, just their good luck?
1t was a question he had asked a
hundred times of his national as of
his personal self"
! OF course it isn't just good luck
II may now plainly be seen that the
answer lies in the fact that in a mo-
ment of national emergency, when
everything seemed headed toward de-
struction, some imagination judgment
initiative called Lord Northcliffe gets
/ to work. 1t analyses the situation and
puts a Lloyd George on the job as
manager of Britain's war. Then 1t
wonders, through it's maginative quail
/ ity, if the same lin the-rut' type OF
1minw dhich had formerly been direct
ing. the military end might not also
exist in the civil branch, the "wait
the initiative quality of mind, in the
face of apparently overwhelming OPP
position, shows the facts to the coun-
try-to the stockholders of the British
empire, so to say--and the board o.
directors is changed and new cab
met installed. The intensely practica
management in charge of the nations
business couldn't analyze itself
thought it was doing the best posi-
BILE under the circumstances-and the
best results were obtained only wher
the executive mind trained in imagin'
alton judgment initiative supplantet
the practical manager. The same Trims
is happening today in industries run
ming below par in efficiency. Velve
rugs and mahogany furniture can no
substitute for the fundamental quail
ties, though for a time they may con
ceal their absence
! Three Requisites as Applied to Mimi!
The observation concerns genera
principles, but concrete facts are ne