Crucible
Essays

Jen-Hsun Huang, president and chief executive of Nvidia, a maker of graphics chips, shows what transformational leadership is and how it is created by continually striving through failures and a strong sense of humility. Mr. Huang admits that he never was intimidated by failures growing up and that as Nvidia was in its early stages, the company experienced an exceptional level of failures that continued to challenge its very existence. Yet Mr. Huang takes a very positive, optimistic view of failures, saying that the acting of failing defines the dark space around success. His business of computer graphics chips has a very rapid, merciless pace of technological change. He has had to create an organization comfortable with failing fast and often, in order to continually improve a product line and make it ready for market. The qualities that make him an exceptional transformational leader include a heavy reliance on authenticity, transparency, trust and a very high regard for intellectual honesty. He believes that the best leaders have the ability to openly and regularly admit they are wrong and continually work to create workable solutions to problems. He also mentions the need for accuracy, speed and quickness of response to market and competitive conditions, using the allegory of a busy Denny's at rush hour. He uses the time pressure of dinner time to describe how critically important it is to also define when a customer is right and wrong. In his profile it is implied that the quicker a leader can either confirm or deny the value of customer opinion, the faster the leader can define an effective strategy. He uses the tense, high pressure environment of a Denny's to draw an allegorical reference to the very stressful, high speed business of designing and producing computer graphics chips. What is so effective about this allegory as a means to communicate leadership is the need for decisiveness and a focus on the customer, along with an acute sense of time and its incredible value as a resource. In his responses to the interviewers' questions it is clear he is thinking in these terms as a leader, working to triage the myriad of disruptions him and his organization face daily, choosing only the most significant to respond to. He has to in the business he's in, as the pace of computer graphics chip lifecycles is extremely rapid.

Arthur Miller's play The Crucible describes the witch hunts and hysteria of Salem, Massachusetts. At the onset of the play a group of young women dance in the forest, including Tituba, a black slave, Betty, who is the…

Throughout the 1960s, self-styled American young "revolutionaries" in the United States, especially college students, were fond of donning tee-shirts emblazoned with the image of Che Guevara based on his identity as…

It is often said a manager is what one does and leader is who one is. One of my core values is continually seeking insight, intelligence and knowledge to excel at the tasks I've taken on.

1898 Editorial: "Do not just remember the U.S.S. Maine -- remember your obligations as human beings and Americans" -- Regarding Senator Proctor's March 17th speech on conditions in Cuba

The French and Indian War is considered to be part of Seven Years War that took place from 1756 till 1763. It is one of the most fierce and bloodiest battles that ever took place and in which thousands of people were killed. Participants of the war included French, Indians and British. It is believed that the war was fought in order to gain control over North America and clash over colonies between France and England over power and wealth.

This paper features the biographies of a number of playwrights and poets, ranging from Cervantes to Thomas to Arthur Miller and more. There is then a discussion of different theater forms from classic Greek theater to Commedia dell'Arte and to the Theater of the Absurd of the 20th century, and also noh.

At a speech in Wheeling, West Virginia on February 9, 1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy made the following announcement: "The reason we find ourselves in a position of impotency is not because the enemy has sent men to…

Vincent Van Gogh: Woman with a spade as seen from behind. (1885)

Shortly after being expelled from Harvard, William Hearst acquired his first newspaper, the San Francisco Examiner, from his father. In 1895, eight years later, Hearst purchased the New York Morning Journal and entered…