As a general truth, it may be said that the measure of success of a commercial or industrial business centers is the management. This administration may be in the hands of an individual, or may comprise a body of managers with who rests the general control of the business.

That experience and expert knowledge are indispensable factors need hardly be pointed out. That the man or men possessing initiative, judgment and courage will always hold their position is certain. Every experienced manager knows that it is not enough to see that the business runs smoothly, that efficiency is maintained in the staff, and that the general equipment is of a high order in every other respect. The management in their outlook must be always a long way ahead of their staff, engaged in their day-to-day work. It is the business of the management to look ahead, to originate and plan schemes for future operations.

It is the manager who can visualize what these future opportunities are likely to be, and by letting his fancy or imagination play round them, who evolves fresh plans and activities. He will try to sense by keen observation the trend of his public’s requirements, before these even become expressed. Some gifted individuals have an extraordinary intuition in this direction, but the majority only acquire this creative virtue by exercising and cultivating the general habit of reflection, thinking, reasoning, and, having arrived at conclusions, acting.

It is upon the foundation of carefully observed facts that the imaginative mind proceeds to build up plans for future activities. The creative faculty is the one most worth cultivating in every business man who is at the head of affairs. No sensible manager will become obsessed with novelties just for the sake of novelty. That point of view is fraught with peril.

One other peril of managing directors, general managers, and departmental managers alike, if they would be progressive, is the peril of getting immersed in details and a settled groove. The mind that would be active, and have its chance, is the mind with some leisure to roam about in search of ideas, leisure at times to look at the business operations from a somewhat detached point of view. Otherwise the mind becomes clogged and stultified. A certain amount of detachment is essential to observation; in this sense it is true that the outsider sees most of the game.

Training and Experience

It has been frequently stated, and it is true, that the higher positions carrying responsibilities are exceedingly difficult to fill by reason of the dearth of able men to fill them. Thousands of men, imagining they have the ability, do not believe that statement. The writer has interviewed many of them, and the point that usually emerges is this. They tell you they have the feeling that they have the ability to fill the post; the “feeling” is generally that, and nothing more; it usually becomes apparent that they are unable to visualize what the requirements are, and break down when they come to detail their qualifications; the mental status is the stumbling block.

They may have potential qualifications, but, lacking training or experience in the particular work, they forget, or, rather, they do not realize, how chary the managing director has to be who has taken many applicants at their own valuation and given them their chance. The men who would fill higher posts cannot expect the employer to suffer sad losses because his new manager, buyer or salesman, lacking skill and training, is only using his position in gaining experience. Men who would fill responsible positions cannot expect to be taught their job; they must know it; at least, they must be somewhere on the way to give the employer confidence in them.

What such disappointed men should think about is this. There is no faculty of the human mind that does not lend itself to cultivation by training. For business purposes, it can be trained rightly or wrongly. The bookish-educated man is apt to be slow, self-centered and lacking in originality. He is usually slavishly reliant on others in the turmoil of business.