Why I Never Hire Brilliant Men (1924)

Being smart isn't good enough; you need to be able to finish what you've started. It's all about the execution and not the concept.

Furthermore, he's found he prefers to select hard workers and promote them up than to pick smart, ambitious kids from good families or good credentials. Hard work is better than sheer brilliance.

Such a shame there is no author listed for that - it would be interesting to hear what happened to him in life.

Counter point -- I usually read the comments before the articles themselves (personal preference). The tl;dr above made me go read the article. It is indeed great.

Good writing and ok advice for someone who wants to run a grocery business. But it is absolutely untrue that "brilliant" men cannot also be careful, detail-oriented and have good business sense and skills. And certainly innovation and risk taking can be just as critical in business as following proven formulas and paying close attention to the bottom line. It depends on the business and circumstance. Overall I think in the context of high technology, the article is dated.

What if you aren't a finisher? How can you become one?