The Education of a German Manager

Abstract

In a rare extravagance a few years ago, Dagmar Bollin-Flade and her husband, Bernd Flade, commissioned an artist to make an Andy Warhol-style print of one of their high-end plumbing fixtures. They were pleased with the results, except that the artist framed the work crookedly. After trying unsuccessfully to open the frame and straighten the print, Dagmar and Bernd telephoned the artist, who explained that she had intended the image to hang at a slight angle, for aesthetic effect. Dagmar and Bernd laugh when they tell the story now, but at the time they could not fathom why anyone would make a picture crooked. They are engineers. A crooked print violated everything they ever learned about precision and order. Later, at a trade fair, they hung the image at the Bollin Armaturenfabrik stand. To their amusement, one engineer after another approached them to point out that the print was very nice, but it was crooked.