It horrifies me that ethics is only an optional extra at Harvard Business School.

Everyone thinks I'm a smart arse who can solve any bloody problem. I'm not. I'm just a very old businessman and a very experienced businessman who made every mistake in the book and can recognise one when I see one.

How do you know you have won? When the energy is coming the other way and when your people are visibly growing individually and as a group.

People who don't make mistakes are no bloody good to you at all.

It horrifies me that ethics is only an optional extra at Harvard Business School.

It is surprising, in the welter of questions that one gets at (AGMs), how few actually relate to the performance of the company, or the decisions taken by the board in particular areas.

Go for civil engineering, because civil engineering is the branch of engineering which teaches you the most about managing people. Managing people is a skill which is very, very useful and applies almost regardless of what you do.