Concrete Over Abstract Decision Making

“Boussac has a passion for the concrete. Between two factories, one working well, the other poorly, the difference, in his eyes, lies in 50 details neglected by the managers of the latter. And he doesn’t mince his words to let them know.”

“polytechnic. The abstract irks him. He has banned any form of reports, graphs, and statistics at his place; he manages without writing: sometimes he is barely seen holding a tiny square of white paper on which he has scribbled 2 or 3 elliptical notes. He stores all the data he needs in his head and expects his staff to do the same. Everything must be “of absolute simplicity.” When given a note, he asks: “Can your five-year-old daughter understand it? If not, there’s no point in giving it to me!””