The Art of Money Getting · Chapter
Be Systematic explained
This chapter emphasizes the importance of system and order in business, illustrating how a systematic approach leads to greater efficiency and leisure.
What happens
This chapter emphasizes the importance of system and order in business, illustrating how a systematic approach leads to greater efficiency and leisure. It warns against excessive rigidity, using the example of a waiter named Pat who follows the system so literally that he refuses to serve fish to a guest who has not finished his soup.
Themes in this chapter
Specialization and Focus
The chapter advocates for doing one thing at a time and being systematic, but warns against excessive specialization that leads to absurdity, as shown by Pat's literal adherence to the system.
Characters to notice
- Pat
An Irish waiter hired on the spot at the Astor House; he follows the landlord's system so rigidly that he insists a guest must finish his soup before receiving fish.
Key passages
“A person who does business by rule, having a time and place for everything, doing his work promptly, will accomplish twice as much and with half the trouble of him who does it carelessly and slipshod.”
A systematic worker who is punctual and organized achieves twice the results with half the effort compared to a careless worker.
This is the central thesis of the chapter, advocating for system and order.
“Pat looked at the untasted plate of soup, and remembering the instructions of the landlord in regard to 'system,' replied: 'Not till ye have ate yer supe!'”
Pat, recalling the landlord's strict system, refused to take away the soup plate until the guest had finished it, even though the guest wanted fish.
This anecdote illustrates the danger of applying system too rigidly, without common sense.