re: America is for sale: Japan buys US Steel

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We rejected Deming and they took notes.

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This and this. Heck most thought him a crackpot.

One summer at Auburn I could not get a job anywhere and my grandmother got me one at a company in her town. It was hammering "s-irons" in the ends of railroad ties. And lucky me because it was a temporary summer job I got an immediate opening on the "switch tie line". It was for longer ties, and the stacks to hammer were out in the weather, rain or shine, straddling the rail lines of a stack tie operator swinging them back and forth over your head while he smoked spliffs all day. The forklift guys you really had to look out for because crank was popular with them.

The rep for US steel had a rush order and that union puke stood over me with an umbrella in the pouring rain and pointed out to me which ties he wanted re-ironed.

They all referred to me as college boy. Every Friday I would sit and help a bunch of them figure out their timecards for them cause they didnt trust the company.

When I left the supervisor said "College boy you sure taught me a lesson, never thought you would last, you busted your arse like you had to work to eat". And I told him, naw you fellas taught me more than you will ever know.

I am a college boy from Auburn and I have a masters from Tulane, but a guarantee you I know more about running a sales and distribution company, from California to Virginia, Russia to London, Miami to South America. Thousands and thousands of hours sweating my arse on route trucks and warehouses, having accountants take me through their books, learning what was right or wrong about their businesses, all while my counterparts played golf, hit the strip clubs and went to superbowls.

Yeah I have an MBA but I learned more that summer with an MBWA (manage by walking around and observing) than I ever did in a classroom, and I assure you more than those on this site who disparage us college boys