True...

[christopher.pokorny]

"In order to be successful in business you need to be fluent in three different languages. 1) Middle Class English 2) Accounting 3) Statistics."

My Business Professor told me this one night at class and it has stuck with me ever since. Thoughts, Questions, Comments?

[crackah]

not true.......

[jasaunders]

I would replace number 3 with sales.
Any successful businessperson needs to be able to sell. Speaking the language of a salesperson is essential no matter what line of business you're in, because everyone needs to sell something at some point(themselves, their company, their product, etc...)

[christopher.pokorny]

good point. Then would you say that the above is for Business Management? (I'm pretty sure thats what he said, and what context it was being used in)

[Dylan Phelan]

nah... Business management is MUCH broader than sales.

[paul.b]

not true. even for online busniness. i can speak english and im not fluent.

[christopher.pokorny]

sales is easy. That would be included in middle class english. this is for American businesses. I guess it would be different for another country, replace the language in number one.

If you look at the principals of business, you have to know how to communicate with people, you have to know where your money is going, and you have to know what kind of customers/market/numbers your dealing with. make sense?

[akula]

"In order to be successful in business you need to be fluent in three different languages. 1) Middle Class English 2) Accounting 3) Statistics."

My Business Professor told me this one night at class and it has stuck with me ever since. Thoughts, Questions, Comments?

i'd generally agree

i can't stand people who make decisions based on hunches, gut feelings, karmic apparitions, assumptions, deductions, meditation, "insight", "good intentions" or intuition.

gimme stats, gimme data

that said...success in business is a function of a complicated equation...skill doesn't equal success....rather, skill is only the first of three variable, and the least important one at that

[zoobie]

Yes, at least we know the basics.

[sniping4dummies]

sales is easy. That would be included in middle class english. this is for American businesses. I guess it would be different for another country, replace the language in number one.

If you look at the principals of business, you have to know how to communicate with people, you have to know where your money is going, and you have to know what kind of customers/market/numbers your dealing with. make sense?

OBVIOUSLY you've never done sales. I've been doing sales for 5 years and day in, day out, it's still the toughest part of my job.

The tricky part isn't convincing someone you can do something, it's convincing someone you can meet more of their UNIQUE needs better than anyone else can.

Besides, I wouldn't take much faith in anything some crackpot professor says. Universities are worthless (by and large - I'm not generalizing every university/program/professor) and professors nothing more than theorists with inflated egos.

"Ideas will only get you so far these days.
Count on personal relationships to carry
you farther. The new economy is not just
about the exchange of information. It's
about the exchange of relationships."
--Pam Alexander

[Andrius.s]

Business is like a puzzle..it has to have all the puzzle peaces in order to work successfully. It is naive to say that business success depends on knowing middle class English or accounting or even all those together: 1) Middle Class English 2) Accounting 3) Statistics.
The basic business secret is to understand that business is based on numbers and value, which you providing to the customer, but you will not go far with this secret, because it is only one peace of successful business, you have to have marketing support, good customer services and ect. It has to be a perfect mixture of everything, people who say that business success depends just on a couple things or even one thing, which sounds totally ridiculous..and it obviously shows that they have nothing to do with business, they just open their mouth and say lies.

[dreamer4ever]

The middle class is very important, depending on who your targeting. I think networking needs to be included in their and communication in general.

[OneStepAhead]

You professor was obviosuly trying to make a point; the subject matter you cover in college is important because those who don't have it don't learn the languages of middle class English, Accounting, or Statistics. Obviously this is not ALL you need but I think it's a very good foundation.

[deep_impression777]

"In order to be successful in business you need to be fluent in three different languages. 1) Middle Class English 2) Accounting 3) Statistics."

My Business Professor told me this one night at class and it has stuck with me ever since. Thoughts, Questions, Comments?

I think this is one of those "industry boiled down to post-it size" epithets. While it speaks sense, its very general. I think 1. English 2. Math 3. People skills are much more apt, don't you? Although it doesn't sound as cool.

[JackTheRipper]

I believe all you really need is determination and initiative. And a good source of knowledge. With that, everything else comes. Luckily, we have the internet now.