We mislead ourselves when we pretend we can make someone into an effective manager by putting them through a few courses in business school. Matthew Stewart More Quotes by Matthew Stewart More Quotes From Matthew Stewart During the seven years that I worked as a management consultant, I spent a lot of time trying to look older than I was. I became pretty good at furrowing my brow and putting on somber expressions. Matthew Stewart good look management time Whoever pays the consultant gets pretty much what they want to hear. Matthew Stewart consultant hear pretty want Nature's God really descends from an ancient Greek tradition that was passed along to the early modern philosophers. And these were quite radical thinkers who were really challenging the ways of thinking of their time and the established religion. Matthew Stewart nature god time religion For me, the only sources of moral values are the pursuit of understanding and the pursuit of happiness. Matthew Stewart me moral understanding happiness At the decisive Boston town meeting of Nov. 29, 1773, while ships loaded with cargo from the East India Company idled in the harbor, Thomas Young was the first and only speaker to propose that the best way to protest the new Tea Act was to dump the tea into the water. Matthew Stewart best tea water way George Washington participated as a vestryman in his local congregation, but that didn't really imply any particular kind of religious belief. This was necessary in order to participate in the society. Matthew Stewart society kind belief order Ethan Allen was convinced that every planet out there has its own intelligent extraterrestrials. And this, as you can imagine, is a radical, inspiring, but very unsettling, idea. Matthew Stewart own you imagine intelligent We're just one rock surrounded by this immense universe. Matthew Stewart surrounded rock just universe In order to produce generalist courses, business school professors have been forced to invent subjects called strategy, called organizational behavior and so on. Matthew Stewart strategy behavior business school What do you need to succeed in business? You need the ability to think critically and communicate, and those things you can get just as easily out of a philosophy degree. Matthew Stewart think you succeed business In business, experience is the big teacher. Matthew Stewart big experience business teacher The conservative interpretation of American history says that wherever the word 'God' appears, it's obviously our God, it's obviously a Christian God; it's usually an evangelical God. The simplest point I'm making is: That is just absolutely not true. Matthew Stewart true christian god history Most religions assume that you find purpose through some agent that sits above or outside the world and imbues it with purpose. Matthew Stewart religions you purpose world I'd like the United States to become what it was always meant to be, which is a secular nation - more publicly committed to reason, to improving understanding, and promoting education. Matthew Stewart nation always understanding education I don't have an M.B.A. I have a doctoral degree in philosophy - nineteenth-century German philosophy, to be precise. Matthew Stewart german degree precise philosophy One of the distinguishing features of anything that aspires to the name of science is the reproducibility of experimental results. Matthew Stewart name anything results science At its best, management theory is part of the democratic promise of America. It aims to replace the despotism of the old bosses with the rule of scientific law. It offers economic power to all who have the talent and energy to attain it. Matthew Stewart best talent power law It's wrong to look at what we call 'Enlightenment values' as some fad of the 18th century. It's deeply rooted in ancient history. Matthew Stewart wrong look enlightenment history Wherever I was in the world, at the beginning of every consulting project, one thing was certain: I would know less about the business at hand than the people I was supposed to be advising. Matthew Stewart beginning business people world It was 1988, and I was just finishing a D.Phil at Oxford University on the topic of 'Nietzsche and German Idealism.' Matthew Stewart just university idealism finishing
