conversations.from: human
conversations.value: What could be a title for a book about Reed, Coca-Cola, Company with the genre: Business & Money, Management & Leadership?
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: A title for this book could be 'The Ten Commandments for Business Failure'
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Provide the first four paragraphs for this book.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: The Ten Commandments for Business Failure
  IT HAS BEEN AN ARTICLE of faith for me that I should always try to hang out with people who are better than I. There is no question that by doing so you move yourself up. It worked for me in marriage and it's worked for me with Don Keough.
  When I'm with Don Keough, I can feel myself on the up escalator. He has an optimistic view of me and what I am to the extent that he raises my sights and makes me believe more in myself and the world around me. When you are around Don, you are learning something all the time. He's an incredible business leader. The greatest achievement of good executives is to get things done through other people, not themselves. Now here is a guy who is capable of getting all kinds of people from all over the world, men and women who want to help him succeed. I've seen him do it.
  Maybe it is because no one understands the human aspects of situations better than he. He can advise my kids perhaps better than I can and they love him for that. He does the same for everyone he calls a friend—and that is a lot of people.
  The Graham Group, named after my mentor Ben Graham, is a bunch of people who meet every two years or so. All my close friends, including Don, attend. Everyone wants Don to be the keynote speaker. Bill Gates, in particular, always wants it to be Don Keough. He just loves listening to him because Don talks such sense and offers such inspiration. Don can tell you to go to hell so wonderfully you'll enjoy the journey.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Delete the last sentence.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: The Ten Commandments for Business Failure
  IT HAS BEEN AN ARTICLE of faith for me that I should always try to hang out with people who are better than I. There is no question that by doing so you move yourself up. It worked for me in marriage and it's worked for me with Don Keough.
  When I'm with Don Keough, I can feel myself on the up escalator. He has an optimistic view of me and what I am to the extent that he raises my sights and makes me believe more in myself and the world around me. When you are around Don, you are learning something all the time. He's an incredible business leader. The greatest achievement of good executives is to get things done through other people, not themselves. Now here is a guy who is capable of getting all kinds of people from all over the world, men and women who want to help him succeed. I've seen him do it.
  Maybe it is because no one understands the human aspects of situations better than he. He can advise my kids perhaps better than I can and they love him for that. He does the same for everyone he calls a friend—and that is a lot of people.
  The Graham Group, named after my mentor Ben Graham, is a bunch of people who meet every two years or so. All my close friends, including Don, attend. Everyone wants Don to be the keynote speaker. Bill Gates, in particular, always wants it to be Don Keough. He just loves listening to him because Don talks such sense and offers such inspiration.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Provide three more paragraphs.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: THE LIGHT BRIGADE went charging into the Valley of Death because its leaders just didn't pause to think. And all the soldiers blindly followed. Soldiers were not supposed to think for themselves, but their leaders were. It's obvious, but worth noting—one cannot make any real progress in any field, war included, if one just keeps sifting through data and reaches quick conclusions based on previous experience rather than careful evaluation and slow, careful analysis.
  Time to think is not a luxury. It is a necessity. As Goethe noted: "Action is easy; thought is hard." Yet action frequently—in fact, more often than not—takes on a life of its own. We pay homage to reason, but we are held hostage to emotion. We are, after all, feeling creatures, and in the excitement of a particular endeavor once the ball is rolling, it's difficult to stop. There is a tendency toward group wishing in decision making wherein everyone is so eager to make something happen that straight thinking becomes almost impossible.
  Look at the recent dreadful fits—Daimler and Chrysler, Time Warner and AOL, Kmart and Sears, Quaker Oats and Snapple. Should these really have ever happened? The less than satisfactory results were wholly predictable, but people were swept up in the deal, and no one, top to bottom, thought through the consequences or the consequences of the consequences. Certainly, the short-term gain to various players is always going to be a factor, but there must be someone projecting ahead to the long-term consequences for the welfare and dignity of all the stakeholders in every business activity.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Reverse the sentences.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Certainly, the short-term gain to various players is always going to be a factor, but there must be someone projecting ahead to the long-term consequences for the welfare and dignity of all the stakeholders in every business activity.. Should these really have ever happened? The less than satisfactory results were wholly predictable, but people were swept up in the deal, and no one, top to bottom, thought through the consequences or the consequences of the consequences.
  Look at the recent dreadful fits—Daimler and Chrysler, Time Warner and AOL, Kmart and Sears, Quaker Oats and Snapple. There is a tendency toward group wishing in decision making wherein everyone is so eager to make something happen that straight thinking becomes almost impossible. We are, after all, feeling creatures, and in the excitement of a particular endeavor once the ball is rolling, it's difficult to stop. We pay homage to reason, but we are held hostage to emotion." Yet action frequently—in fact, more often than not—takes on a life of its own. As Goethe noted: "Action is easy; thought is hard. It is a necessity.
  Time to think is not a luxury. It's obvious, but worth noting—one cannot make any real progress in any field, war included, if one just keeps sifting through data and reaches quick conclusions based on previous experience rather than careful evaluation and slow, careful analysis. Soldiers were not supposed to think for themselves, but their leaders were. And all the soldiers blindly followed.THE LIGHT BRIGADE went charging into the Valley of Death because its leaders just didn't pause to think
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Provide the last five paragraphs.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: David Blomquist, a true renaissance man, has had to suffer over these years by often taking my thoughts and ideas and helping to rationalize and organize them. David has challenged me when my thinking was vague and unclear and in the process helped shape my written and spoken words into messages appropriate for every audience.
  Through the years, I have been blessed to know and work with and for an amazing collection of individuals: among them, Paul Gallagher of Paxton and Gallagher, Clarke and Gilbert Swanson, Charles Duncan, Luke Smith, Paul Austin, Roberto Goizueta, Herbert Allen, Barry Diller, Jack Welch, and Jimmy Williams.
  Robert W. Woodruff, patriarch of The Coca-Cola Company, welcomed me into the Coca-Cola family and I enjoyed the great privilege of spending time with him in the later years of his life.
  I retired from The Coca-Cola Company on April 14, 1993. The next day Herbert Allen asked me to become nonexecutive chairman of Allen & Company. Herbert in a very real sense is the most remarkable man I ever met. He is a special combination of wit and wisdom, generous to a fault, interested in the major issues that confront our society, and a closet intellectual. When I joined Allen & Company, he probably thought I'd serve for a year or two. Fourteen years later I'm still here. He's stuck with me. My title is grand, my responsibilities are less than modest, and I'm having the time of my life as part of this family-run firm. It's exciting to be Herbert's friend and business partner and to work with his sons and a cadre of remarkable associates.
  Finally, there is the joy of having shared a remarkable life journey of more than fifty years with my wife, Mickie. Our six children, their six spouses, and eighteen grandchildren have brought and continue to bring great pleasure into our lives. All in all it's truly been a wonderful life... so far.