I grew up in a General Motors factory town, Anderson, Indiana. My history teachers taught us about politics and war, but also about leadership and “management:” – generals, admirals, governors, Presidents. I asked about GM and they said, “they make Chevrolet, Pontiac, Buick, Oldsmobile, and Cadillac.” But I knew that already, I asked, “but who started it? Why did they start it? How did it become so successful? Who leads it today? Are they smart or stupid?” But no one could answer my questions.

Then I was in a newsstand with my family, and discovered Fortune magazine, which asked the same questions. The Fortune 500 issue had just come out. GM was the largest company in the world, at the top of the long list. So there were other big outfits like GM! I convinced my parents to get me a subscription. I was twelve.

So I have been fascinated with business, and with the other social sciences, all my life. Few things are as fascinating as how people get together in groups to achieve something they could not achieve on their own, which I call “enterprise.” Whether for profit or not