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There is a great quote from Tom Watson Jr (IBM CEO): > A young executive had made some bad decisions that cost the company several million dollars. He was summ

by ProAm 10y ago

There is a great quote from Tom Watson Jr (IBM CEO): > A young executive had made some bad decisions that cost the company several million dollars. He was summoned to Watson’s office, fully expecting to be dismissed. As he entered the office, the young executive said, “I suppose after that set of mistakes you will want to fire me.” Watson was said to have replied, > “Not at all, young man, we have just spent a couple of million dollars educating you.” [1] All depends on how leadership views employee growth [1] http://the-happy-manager.com/articles/characteristic-of-leadership/ http://the-happy-manager.com/articles/characteristic-of-lead...

donarb 10y ago
There's s story about Bill Clinton's early years that is similar. He became governor at 32 and had ambitious plans, increasing the gas tax to fix the roads was one of them. The tax passed and subsequently Clinton lost re-election. He was stung at his loss since he was a fairly popular governor despite the gas tax hike. A few years later he decided to run again and went all over the state to talk to voters. In one small town he came across a man and introduced himself. The man said "I know who you are, you're the sumbitch that raised the gas tax!" Clinton replied "I guess I can't count on your vote then." The man said "Oh, I'll still vote for you." Shocked, Clinton asked why? The man grinned and said, "Cause I know you'll never do that again!"
- 2muchcoffeeman 10y ago
  That's not really the same though. Did Clinton actually manage to fix the roads? If he did, that wasn't a mistake and voters were simply retaliating for a tax increase.
  - ProAm 10y ago
    > Did Clinton actually manage to fix the roads? ... and voters were simply retaliating for a tax increase. Not a great argument because many people view one of the primary responsibilities of local government is to maintain the roads (in USA). If they cannot properly budget and allocate money, regardless if the tax increase worked, it was the wrong way to fix the problem. With this mindset government can fix every problem by raising taxes.... Not acceptable to most people.
    - 2muchcoffeeman 10y ago
      That argument doesn't necessarily make sense. You can't budget properly and allocate funds if you have no funds. Look at all the countries with a high level of social services. They collect a lot of tax. If people really think that the government can maintain roads with no money, assuming they don't have that money, I don't know what to say.
      - Nition 10y ago
        More simply, setting tax rates is part of budgeting.
        ProAm 10y ago
        If every time I did not budget properly would it be acceptable to ask my boss for more money? Every time? Or is it my fault for not budgeting properly. I'd probably be fired if I did this.
        Nition 10y ago
        That seems like an unrelated question. I thought we were talking about Clinton's one-time budget to improve roads that included a tax increase to cover it. Clinton wasn't governor in the previous term, he wasn't the one that under-budgeted the roads originally.
        ProAm 10y ago
        > he wasn't the one that under-budgeted the roads originally. Im not sure who caused the budget deficit in the first place, but he is the one that took more money from citizens to fix a problem that should have been fixed by reallocating existing funds.
      - civility 10y ago
        > If people really think that the government can maintain roads with no money Do you really think they brought in "no" money? That's ridiculous. The government should figure out how to waste less of the existing taxes before demanding more.

by ProAm 10y ago

donarb 10y ago

There's s story about Bill Clinton's early years that is similar. He became governor at 32 and had ambitious plans, increasing the gas tax to fix the roads was one of them. The tax passed and subsequently Clinton lost re-election. He was stung at his loss since he was a fairly popular governor despite the gas tax hike. A few years later he decided to run again and went all over the state to talk to voters. In one small town he came across a man and introduced himself. The man said "I know who you are, you're the sumbitch that raised the gas tax!" Clinton replied "I guess I can't count on your vote then." The man said "Oh, I'll still vote for you." Shocked, Clinton asked why? The man grinned and said, "Cause I know you'll never do that again!"

2muchcoffeeman 10y ago
That's not really the same though. Did Clinton actually manage to fix the roads? If he did, that wasn't a mistake and voters were simply retaliating for a tax increase.
- ProAm 10y ago
  > Did Clinton actually manage to fix the roads? ... and voters were simply retaliating for a tax increase. Not a great argument because many people view one of the primary responsibilities of local government is to maintain the roads (in USA). If they cannot properly budget and allocate money, regardless if the tax increase worked, it was the wrong way to fix the problem. With this mindset government can fix every problem by raising taxes.... Not acceptable to most people.
  - 2muchcoffeeman 10y ago
    That argument doesn't necessarily make sense. You can't budget properly and allocate funds if you have no funds. Look at all the countries with a high level of social services. They collect a lot of tax. If people really think that the government can maintain roads with no money, assuming they don't have that money, I don't know what to say.
    - Nition 10y ago
      More simply, setting tax rates is part of budgeting.
      - ProAm 10y ago
        If every time I did not budget properly would it be acceptable to ask my boss for more money? Every time? Or is it my fault for not budgeting properly. I'd probably be fired if I did this.
        Nition 10y ago
        That seems like an unrelated question. I thought we were talking about Clinton's one-time budget to improve roads that included a tax increase to cover it. Clinton wasn't governor in the previous term, he wasn't the one that under-budgeted the roads originally.
        ProAm 10y ago
        > he wasn't the one that under-budgeted the roads originally. Im not sure who caused the budget deficit in the first place, but he is the one that took more money from citizens to fix a problem that should have been fixed by reallocating existing funds.
    - civility 10y ago
      > If people really think that the government can maintain roads with no money Do you really think they brought in "no" money? That's ridiculous. The government should figure out how to waste less of the existing taxes before demanding more.