Rumsfeld's Rules - Leadership Lessons in Business, Politics, War, and Life

INTRODUCTION: THE BENEFITS OF BORROWED WISDOM

As we journey through life many of us come across something interesting or wise from time to time and think to ourselves, “I should write that down.” Well, I’ve had a tendency to do just that for as long as I can remember. I probably owe that habit to my schoolteacher mother. She encouraged me to jot down unfamiliar words and look up their meanings later. Eventually I found myself keeping track not only of words, but also of various phrases, expressions, and snippets of advice, and putting them in a shoe box.

For example, while my dad was stationed aboard an aircraft carrier during World War II, I wrote a letter telling him I was thinking of quitting the Boy Scouts to spend more time playing sports ...