Harrington Emerson was more than a consulting engineer. He was a pioneer of professional business management. The zenith of his career coincided with the development of a stock market structure, and with the Great Depression and its aftermath as well. He passed away more than two decades before Peter Drucker introduced Management by Objectives to the management world. After reading the writings of Harrington Emerson on the 12 Principles of Efficiency, a person has to conclude that Drucker did not know about this book when he was published for the first time.
A take-away from this piece of U.S. business management folklore is that records are like carpets. We do not know what transpired, on a day-to-day basis, in the minds of pioneering executives who pulled North America from depression to dominance. Though we cannot recover such treasures, there is not a day to lose when it comes to preserving and using stock investment decisions of this week and beyond.
Apprenticeship is best. Imagine being witness to confabulations between Wall Street and the Fed, even if as wallpaper. However, even your own mind is invaluable. What did you think of sub-prime when you first heard about it? Do you know how your credit rating has changed in the last six months, and why? Daily recording, not just of final outcomes, but of thought processes, may appear mundane, but they can be immensely useful as stock market time goes by.
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