He who will not economize
will have to agonize.
—Confucius}
Keep It Short,
Fast, and DirectW
hen Confucius mentions “agonize” in his quote, I have to
tell you that I can relate. As someone on the receiving end
of conversations with people who do not know how to edit them-
selves, I can understand what agony means. I don’t mean to be im-
polite, but I am often thinking to myself, “how long is it going to
take for this person to get to the point? We could’ve flown to Aus-
tralia by now and they’re still in the middle of take-off.” Business
is no place for stream of consciousness babbling, no matter how
colorful you might think you’re being. Whatever you’re doing, keep
it short, fast, and direct. It’s also more polite. Most people don’t
have time to waste. I realize that Confucius was referring to the
noneconomizer, and they will suffer, too, but why make everyone
miserable by being unnecessarily chatty?
I mentioned in my book Think Like a Billionairethat Ricardo
Bellino had exactly three minutes to give me his business presen-
tation. I was extremely busy that day and not particularly in the