"Business is not just doing deals; business is having great products, doing great engineering, and providing tremendous service to customers. Finally, business is a cobweb of human relationships"
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Perot’s line reads like a corrective aimed at the mythology of the wheeler-dealer CEO. By demoting “doing deals” to just one narrow slice of commerce, he’s pushing back on the idea that business is primarily a game of swagger, leverage, and spreadsheets. He re-centers it on work that’s harder to mythologize but easier to measure: products that actually solve problems, engineering that holds up under pressure, service that keeps promises when the sale is over.
The ordering matters. “Great products” and “great engineering” suggest a builder’s ethic, the worldview of someone who respects the machinery inside the machine. Then “tremendous service” shifts from the factory floor to the front lines, where reputations are earned one frustrated customer at a time. Perot is essentially defining legitimacy: you don’t get to call it business unless you can deliver, reliably, at scale.
Then he springs the trap: “Finally, business is a cobweb of human relationships.” Cobweb is a sly word choice. It implies delicacy and stickiness, a network you can’t brute-force without tearing it. Relationships aren’t just “networking”; they’re dependencies, obligations, grudges, loyalties, and informal trust that outmuscle any contract when things go sideways.
Contextually, this fits Perot’s broader persona: a tech-and-operations businessman suspicious of slick insider culture and overfinancialized deal-making. The subtext is both moral and tactical. Moral, because it insists business is accountable to customers and craft. Tactical, because it admits the real power isn’t merely in transactions; it’s in the fragile, persistent web of people who decide whether you get to keep playing.
The ordering matters. “Great products” and “great engineering” suggest a builder’s ethic, the worldview of someone who respects the machinery inside the machine. Then “tremendous service” shifts from the factory floor to the front lines, where reputations are earned one frustrated customer at a time. Perot is essentially defining legitimacy: you don’t get to call it business unless you can deliver, reliably, at scale.
Then he springs the trap: “Finally, business is a cobweb of human relationships.” Cobweb is a sly word choice. It implies delicacy and stickiness, a network you can’t brute-force without tearing it. Relationships aren’t just “networking”; they’re dependencies, obligations, grudges, loyalties, and informal trust that outmuscle any contract when things go sideways.
Contextually, this fits Perot’s broader persona: a tech-and-operations businessman suspicious of slick insider culture and overfinancialized deal-making. The subtext is both moral and tactical. Moral, because it insists business is accountable to customers and craft. Tactical, because it admits the real power isn’t merely in transactions; it’s in the fragile, persistent web of people who decide whether you get to keep playing.
Quote Details
| Topic | Business |
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