“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11)
Growing Dominion, Part 75
“The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise” (Prov. 12:15).
The old joke goes that you can always tell a Harvard man, but you can’t tell him much. The same thing can be said, unfortunately, of many small businessmen. The wise man seeks out instruction, even though he is not in desperate need of it. The person who is in desperate need of it will not seek it out, and resents it if it is offered.
“Often mistaken, never in doubt” is another way to describe it. The way of a fool is self-authenticating (just like the Scriptures, only different). He is right in his own eyes, and this resolves the matter. Do others say that he is opening his business in the wrong part of town-the traffic patterns are all wrong for what he is doing? “So much for them.” Do others maintain that he has grossly underestimated the start-up costs? “Oh, ye of little faith.” Do others offer input even though they have never owned a small business? “How dare they?” Well, people who have never owned a small business are frequently customers of small businesses, and they know exactly what makes them want to stay away. The principle here is that it is better to weigh poor counsel (mixed in with the good) than to reject all counsel (good and bad).