It is unfortunate that the misunderstanding of Machiavelli's book, The Prince, continues unabated today. I refer to the book by Henriksen and Lassenius reviewed in the Financial Times (The Mind of A Leader, FT, 31 May 2012). One only needs to read his History of Florence or his Discourses to find more than a schoolboy's interpretation. Machiavelli's entire career as a historian and advocate of reason was aimed at ridding Italian cities of the scourge of the military caste (Condottieri) and the influence of the Papacy. Italian cities in his time were torn by the battles that raged between families of traders and guilds, supporters of the Popes and those of the Holy Roman Emperor. To Machiavelli, the Popes had worked to weaken the Italian city-states for their own territorial advantages. As a result, the defeat of Florence at the hands of the Pope's forces (aided by the Condottieri who hated Machiavelli's citizen soldiers) left him in the hands of the Medicis. He was imprisoned, tortured and starved. He wrote The Prince to flatter his tormentors into freeing him. It contains all that he detested and can also be read as a clever satire. How terrible it would be for him to realize that his fame rests almost entirely on this image of deceit. He risked his life and fortune on the freedom and liberty of the Florentine people and their allies. He worked tirelessly in Florence to mend the divisions that weakened her and all the Italian city-states. He was a democrat and honored the virtues of the ancients which is what the Discourses is all about. This mistake does him a disservice and only demonstrates the general ignorance concerning a great and honorable man.
I feel the same way about the "Careerists" column in a recent Financial Times issue which leads with a quotation from Camilla Arnold a member of a consultancy that provides businesses with leadership training and advice. While I am sure the consultancy she works for has other buzz phrases, we should stop rewarding risk. People who succeed, that is, people who make a difference in life and who make substantial contributions to society are those who know something. We respect
Albert Einstein because of his expertise, not any expression of risk.
We go to the doctor expecting he or she actually has some useful
training that will deal with physical problems we might have, we do not
want a roll of the dice based on a hunch or a brash attitude. In the
same manner I hope that the auto mechanic practices an informed
approach to the maintenance of my car and the dishwasher and chef in the restaurant I dine in does so as well and avoids the "chances" that might pop up in his or her head
during work. We need, I think, business schools that teach the
drudgery of of everyday commerce and not those who really seem to be
preparing a class of gamblers.