myeck's
immigrant father, stung by legal problems he encountered
while running a printing shop, never gave up his search
for a successful career. But although the plucky little
foreigner knew he eventually would have to find a
new line of business, his first concern was to create an
image for himself: an image of a successful executive.
Knowing
that most executives are seen by others in their offices,
he set about creating an office that looked liked the
office of a busy and powerful leader.
|
He was
complaining about his cluttered desktop when most people
hadn't even heard of computers.
|
Tossing out his battered oak roll-top
desk with its fussy cubbyholes, he planted in the center
of the room a large desk made of the most powerful
material he could find: steel. An industrial wall clock
replaced a family heirloom timepiece he had brought with
him from the old country (a long overdue move, as the
office received no direct sunlight anyway) and a metal
locker with a padlock served instead of the cedar-lined
closet he ripped out with the family crowbar. |
The attention to detail displayed by the
budding businessman stretched even to his telephones.
Knowing that busy executives frequently kept guests
waiting while they took phone calls (sometimes two at a
time), he had several of the largest, most
powerful-looking phones he could find installed on his
desk. While visitors waited impatiently, he would pretend
to hold long conversations and kept his hands busy
checking the coin returns, trying to jimmy the coinboxes,
or writing vaguely obscene messages over the collect-call
instructions.
Thus equipped, he set about charting his course
on the sea of commerce. |
His foray
into the paper industry was a disaster that nearly wiped
him out.
|
He read all of the books and
pamphlets he could find on the subjects of growing fields
of business and personal success, but although he studied
them diligently, he was confused by the alien culture
presented in them. and made several false starts and
wrong turns.
Hearing
from a colleague that he could make it big in the toilet
paper business, he leapt in without adequately
researching the field, causing a loss that set him back
many years. |
