The smartest groups, then, are made up of people with diverse perspectives who are able to stay independent of each other.
James SurowieckiRead
In a world where companies increasingly know about their business in real time, it makes no sense that public reporting mostly follows the old quarterly schedule. Companies sit on vital information until reporting day, at which point the market goes crazy.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote criticizes the outdated practice of quarterly reporting by companies in a fast-paced information-driven world.
James Surowiecki highlights the irony in the delay of public reporting among companies that have access to real-time business information. He argues that by withholding vital insights until designated reporting days, companies contribute to market volatility and inefficiency, suggesting that a more immediate approach to sharing information would better serve the market and its participants.
Themes
ReportingReal TimeBusinessInformationMarket Volatility
In practice
Example use cases
During a business conference, a speaker might cite this quote to emphasize the need for transparency in corporate communications.
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The history of the Internet is, in part, a series of opportunities missed: the major record labels let Apple take over the digital-music business; Blockbuster refused to buy Netflix for a mere fifty million dollars; Excite turned down the chance to acquire Google for less than a million dollars.
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Linux is a complex example of the wisdom of crowds. It's a good example in the sense that it shows you can set people to work in a decentralized way - that is, without anyone really directing their efforts in a particular direction - and still trust that they're going to come up with good answers.
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It's a familiar truism that at any one moment, financial markets are dominated by either fear or greed. But the healthiest markets are those that are animated by both fear and greed at the same time.
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The essence of procrastination lies in not doing what you think you should be doing, a mental contortion that surely accounts for the great psychic toll the habit takes on people. This is the perplexing thing about procrastination: although it seems to involve avoiding unpleasant tasks, indulging in it generally doesn't make people happy.
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