The young man with a University education, or who has been too long at a Public School, enters an environment that is too often distasteful after the atmosphere he has breathed. He is mentally antagonistic to his surroundings, because his brain has been organized in other directions; he has formed a habit of mind that is frequently difficult to change. He has to learn to be quick-witted and self-reliant, and accustom himself to irksome routine. He is sometimes slow to learn that business discussions and decisions have no resemblance to argumentative school methods. Although life is a blend of thought and action, it is usually true that the abstract world of thought, and the business world of action, develop different types of mind. As Emerson said, "Commerce is a game of skill which every man cannot play."
The mental faculties that are most in need of training, in nine cases out of ten, are those that tend to alertness of mind, to keen observation, to sustained concentration, to quick decision and a capacity for getting things done. To perform routine methods and follow in old lines is an easy thing; but to think out new lines which are essential from time to time, and to act independently on one's own judgment and take the responsibility of the result, need special gifts. Influences calling for new methods and changes in policy are always at work; in fact, certain quickness in detecting such influences and changing conditions, and providing for them, has been the making of many a large enterprise. leia todo o artigo
