Trading By Ear
I. Sensible Finance
Shakespeare’s words are records of the words that he wanted to be spoken, words issuing as sounds from people’s mouths, with pitch, pause, rhythm and gesture as part of their meaning. A word does not start as a word—it is an end product which begins as an impulse, stimulated by attitude and behaviour which dictate the need for expression. This process occurs inside the dramatist; it is repeated inside the actor. Both may only be conscious of the words, but both for the author and then for the actor the word is a small visible portion of a gigantic unseen formation. Some writers attempt to nail down their meaning and intentions in stage directions and explanations, yet we cannot help being struck by the fact that the best dramatists explain themselves the least. They recognize that further indications will most probably be useless. They recognize that the only way to find the true path to the speaking of a word is through a process that parallels the original creative one. This can neither be bypassed nor simplified.
—Peter Brook, from The Empty Space
The ledgering of a financial performance is akin to the scripting of a dramatic performance and the scoring of a musical performance.
Like dramatic performances and musical performances, financial performances ought to be judged on their creativity rather than their fidelity.
Judging a financial performance solely on the basis of whether or not it balances the books is like judging dramatic performance solely on the basis of whether or not it sticks to the script, or judging a musical performance solely on the basis of whether or not it keeps to the score.
A creative financial performance, like creative dramatic performance and a creative musical performance, is characterized by its openness to improbable possibilities. To judge a financial performance solely on the basis of whether or not it balances the books is to think nothing of its openness to improbable possibilities, to think nothing of its creativity.
The skilled musician knows that there is more to making music than keeping to the score. The skilled actor knows that there is more to making drama than sticking to the script. Similarly, the skilled financier knows that there is more to making money than balancing the books. Skilled actors and musicians play by ear, even when they make use of scripts and scores. Similarly, skilled financiers trade by ear, even when they make use of ledgers.
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