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"Condit's successors once again emphasized civil aviation. The 777 is a success, and the Dreamliner appears a better vehicle for the future than the huge Airbus 380. By 2008, Boeing had regained from Airbus its leading position in commercial aviation and the share price its earlier value. At Boeing, as at ICI, shareholder value was most effectively created when sought obliquely.

''That profit-seeking paradox, like the conundrum of happiness, illustrates the power of obliquity. Comparisons of the same companies over time are echoed in contrasts between different companies in the same industries. Jim Collins and Jerry Porras undertook paired comparisons between outstanding ('visionary') companies and adequate, but less remarkable firms with similar operations. Merck and Pfizer was one such comparison. Collins and Porras compared oblique philosophy of George Merck-'We try never to forget that medicine is for the people. It is not for the profits. The profits follow, and if we have remembered that, they have never failed to appear. The better we have remembered it, the larger they have been'-with the directness of John McKeen of Pfizer-'So far as humanly possible, we aim to get profit out of everything we do'."''


 * &mdash;John Kay, Obliquity, 2010

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