Work the Onassis way

by Matthew Rock - Thursday, 20th September 2007 -

Aristotle Onassis, the late shipping entrepreneur famed for marrying Jackie Kennedy, had very unusual ways of working...

Entrepreneurs locked into the day-to-day battle of growing a business can easily neglect the lessons of history.

In The Black Swan, the fascinating recent book by Nicholas Nassim Taleb, the author says that the legendary entrepreneur Aristotle Onassis's approach to work was very much in tune with our unpredictable, ever-changing business world. You might enjoy copying his daily routine:

"Work", in the conventional sense, was not his thing, says Taleb. "He did not even bother to have a desk, let alone an office.

"He was not just a dealmaker, which does not necessitate having an office, but he also ran a shipping empire, which requires day-to-day monitoring. Yet his main tool was a notebook, which contained all the information he needed.

"Onassis spent his life trying to socialise with the rich and famous, and to pursue (and collect) women. He generally woke up at noon. If he needed legal advice, he would summon his lawyers to some nightclub in Paris at 2am.

"He was said to have an irresistible charm, which helped him take advantage of people."

Do let us know about your favourite entrepreneurs from history and their quirky habits...

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