Over the past eighteen years I have acted as a scientific consultant to the U.S. Air Force on the subject of unidentified flying objects - UFO's. As a consequence of my work on the voluminous air force files and, to a greater extent, of personal investigation of many puzzling cases and interviews with witnesses of good repute, I have long been aware that the subject of UFO's could not be dismissed as mere nonsense.
Consultant: an ordinary guy more than 50 miles from home.
There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.
The commission of the investment sins listed above is not limited to 'the little guy.' Huge institutional investors, viewed as a group, have long underperformed the unsophisticated index-fund investor who simply sits tight for decades. A major reason has been fees: Many institutions pay substantial sums to consultants who, in turn, recommend high-fee managers. And that is a fool's game.
Fund consultants like to require style boxes such as "long-short," "macro," "international equities." At Berkshire our only style box is "smart."
Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.
This aesthetic quality, then, is what politics is all about. It's authenticity that separates winners from losers, good politics from bad, and he-man leader-types from consultant-directed puppet-boys.
All too many consultants, when asked, 'What is 2 and 2?' respond, 'What do you have in mind?'
I am about to get involved with the biggest cancer hospital in Norway. They are building a fitness center to work with patients. I will be a consultant.
...The asbestos industry...has for decades successfully suppressed and manipulated information on the carcinogenicity and other hazards of asbestos. Involved in this conspiracy network were senior industry executives, their medical staff, attorneys, insurance companies, trade associations, scientific consultants, and commercial labs.
22 of 52 top (FDA) officials have worked for regulated industries, or organizations that cater to those industries...During a hearing held in 1969 by the House Inter-governmental Relations Subcommittee, it was disclosed that of 49 high ranking FDA officials who had recently resigned or retired, 37 joined or served as consultants to regulated industries.
The new Web is a very different thing. It's a tool for bringing together the small contributions of millions of people and making them matter. Silicon Valley consultants call it Web 2.0, as if it were a new version of some old software. But it's really a revolution.
Adam was not alone in the Garden of Eden, however, and does not deserve all the credit; much is due to Eve, the first woman, and Satan, the first consultant.
The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn't said.
I came from an environment where if you see a snake, you kill it. At General motors, if you see a snake, the first thing you do is to hire a consultant on snakes.
To grasp organizational life as it is, read novels (!) .... It is my fervent belief that we will never design rational processes that "overcome" such irregularities-don't bother telling that to a consultant. Hence, we should embrace the real, nonrational, nonlinear world with vigor and glee-and develop enterprise and career strategies accordingly.
The best way to predict the future is to create it.
Integrity is telling myself the truth. And honesty is telling the truth to other people.
Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he'll buy a funny hat. Talk to a hungry man about fish, and you're a consultant.
We must establish a personal connection with each other. Connection before content. Without relatedness, no work can occur.
or simply: