One of the little-celebrated powers of Presidents (and other high government officials) is to listen to their critics with just enough sympathy to ensure their silence.
John Kenneth GalbraithRead
The real accomplishment of modern science and technology consists in taking ordinary men, informing them narrowly and deeply and then, through appropriate organization, arranging to have their knowledge combined with that of other specialized but equally ordinary men. This dispenses with the need for genius. The resulting performance, though less inspiring, is far more predictable.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Modern science and technology succeed by fostering ordinary individuals' specialized knowledge for collaborative performance rather than relying on extraordinary genius.
This quote by John Kenneth Galbraith emphasizes how modern advancements in science and technology are built on the collective efforts of ordinary people who are given specialized training. Instead of depending on rare genius, the systematic organization of knowledge from various experts leads to predictable and reliable outcomes, illustrating the power of collaboration in achieving significant results.
Themes
ScienceTechnologyCollaborationKnowledgeOrdinaryPredictableAccomplishment
In practice
Example use cases
In a talk about teamwork in project management, you could use this quote to emphasize the importance of collaboration over individual genius.
More from John Kenneth Galbraith
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Money differs from an automobile or mistress in being equally important to those who have it and those who do not.
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People of privilege will always risk their complete destruction rather than surrender any material part of their advantage.
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