Do not skip steps?

And so, wink-wink, let's move swiftly on to media examples:

1. Current and former NBA players say many high school stars have inflated views of their talent and the road they hope to travel to basketball riches.

Jerry Stackhouse said the recent National Basketball Players Association's Top 100 Camp exposed him to several prep stars who think they are on the fast track.

"It's kind of hard to fathom that kids right now are so much thinking about the one-and-done," the 14-year veteran said of prep players who expect to spend just one season in college.

"You've got kids that really should just be thinking about college and see what happens ... They just don't realize how hard it is and what it takes to be able to succeed at that [NBA] level. ... If you come in and you're not prepared to deal with everything, it'll chew you up and spit you out fast."

In many cases, Atlanta Hawks guard Maurice Evans said, that fast-track pursuit comes at the expense of developing fundamental skills.

"It's a process, and sometimes when you skip steps, you put yourself at a disadvantage," Evans, a six-year veteran and member of the NBPA's executive committee said. "At times, [basketball] does take a back seat, and the basketball is what's going to keep you around."

Nearly 30 of the top players missed this year's camp to attend tryouts for the USA under-17 and under-18 national teams. Still, Stackhouse said the one-and-done mindset pervades players' decision-making.

Stackhouse said he asked one player if his alma mater, North Carolina, was on the player's recruiting radar. But the player quickly dismissed the Tar Heels, saying their last one-and-done was Marvin Williams, the No. 2 overall pick in 2005 who never averaged as many as 15 points in the league.

"He wants to go somewhere where it's one-and-done -- and he has maybe a total of 10 points in three games that we've played," Stackhouse said. "Go figure, man. Go figure."

- Fast track can slow development, AP, June 22, 2010.

2. Howard Taylor, owner of Wellington Farm Park works in a one-room wooden workshop that one might think came from the late 1800s, it's heated with a small wood stove and is lit by a single light bulb. In this quiet setting, Howard Taylor practices the niche craft of broom making.

"Broom making is not a widely practiced craft," Taylor said.

The scarcity of traditional broom makers took Taylor on a trip to Shaker Village in Pleasant Hills, KY, where he spent two days learning from its master broom maker.

During that time in April, 2012, Taylor learned the more than 13 steps to making a traditional Shaker style broom. He said the first broom he made at Shaker Village took four hours and the second took about two and a half hours to complete.

"I think everyone thinks it can't be hard to make a broom," Taylor said, but added the opposite is true.

He learned that broom makers can not skip steps while making brooms and there "are no shortcuts."

Once he had a grasp of the craft, he took his knowledge back to the Wellington Farm Park where he created his workshop from a former demonstration building and got to work on his 1873 broom winder.

The broom making machine was a gift from Tillers International of Scotts and it runs on "manpower." Taylor secures the broom handle to a clamp that is attached to a gear. That gear is attached to another gear by a belt, which is powered by Taylor's foot. The gears spin the broom handle which winds the securing wire.

- Wellington keeps broom making alive, HoughtonLakeResorter.com, October 4, 2012.

3. If you hear how they talk about each other, you might buy into that view. To CEOs, entrepreneurs often mistake passion for ego. They skip steps and fudge fundamentals to finish first fast. At the same time, many entrepreneurs scoff at advice from executives, who have the luxury of funding, staff, infrastructure, and time. In pursuing scale and appeasing shareholders, entrepreneurs argue, many CEOs become distant from the source of their inspiration and sustenance: customers.

No, CEOs and entrepreneurs aren't mortal enemies like Kennedy and Khrushchev (or Coke and Pepsi). In fact, their rivalry is more akin to tussles between brothers – rooted more in their similarities than their differences. And those similarities are strongly reflected in new data from the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC).

GMAC's 2015 Alumni Perspectives Survey found that entrepreneurs and C-suite executives "were more likely to describe themselves as innovative, proactive, creative, and competitive." In addition, the annual survey showed that advanced business education helped alumni advance their careers, increase their purchasing and earning power, and achieve higher levels of career satisfaction.

- C-Suite, Entrepreneurs Surprisingly Alike, PoetsAndQuants.com, February 17, 2015.

本文僅代表作者本人觀點，與本網立場無關。歡迎大家討論學術問題，尊重他人，禁止人身攻擊和發布一切違反國家現行法律法規的內容。

我要看更多專欄文章

About the author:

Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.

（作者張欣 中國日報網英語點津 編輯：Zoe）