Ed was born of working-class parents in Brooklyn, New
York. Smart, ambitious, determined to succeed, he went to
work in a factory right out of high school and enrolled in night
school. Working day and night, he managed to take a degree in
accounting. He moved off the factory floor and into manage-
ment with the same manufacturing firm. In a few short years,
he fought his way up the ladder, passing some MBAs on the
way. He proved himself to be not only hard-working and ag-
gressive, but a talented nuts-and-bolts man. Efficient, compe-
tent, and tough, he eventually was made a vice president.
Ed was a company man. Everyone said so. He not only
knew how everything worked, he was capable of making it
work better, and when necessary, he didn’t mind yanking out
the deadwood. He was not an easy man to work for, but he was
just the kind of man his bosses liked (that he and most of the
other executives in the firm were male surprised no one). He
was 100 percent loyal to the company, a workaholic, always
willing and eager to go that extra mile, and impatient with any-
one who was less devoted than he.
Ed’s competence, combined with his drive and toughness,
made him an ideal executive in the win-or-die 1980s and ’90s.
To look at him or see him in action, no one would have ever
guessed that he grew up poor on the streets of south Brooklyn,
or that he was a night school product.
In fact, he’d nearly forgotten it himself. He looked, dressed,
and talked like his bosses. He had an attractive, devoted wife
who looked, dressed, and talked like his bosses’ wives. He had
two handsome, well-behaved sons, a nice house in Westchester,
a wicked serve, and great prospects—if he wanted to move.
The president of the company was in his early 50s, Ed’s age,
and apparently happy with his position.
Mastering the Context