Walter E Weld - Collected Quotes

"'A chart is a graphic presentation of numerical data'. In other words, a chart is a picture of a set of figures, but a picture the making and understanding of which calls for neither artistic nor mathematical skill. The only requirements arc ordinary common sense and the ability to draw a straight line with the aid of a ruler." (Walter E Weld, "How to Chart; Facts from Figures with Graphs", 1959)

"A time series is a record of the magnitude of a variable (a quantity that may increase or decrease) as observed at regular intervals of time." (Walter E Weld, "How to Chart; Facts from Figures with Graphs", 1959)

"According to the standard definition, a chart is a graphic presentation, or picture, of numerical data, and since numerical data invariably record magnitudes, that is, the measurements of various things, it follows that a graphic chart, in its simplest form, is a picture of the size of something as expressed in the standard unit of measurement." (Walter E Weld, "How to Chart; Facts from Figures with Graphs", 1959)

"Besides being easier to construct than a bar chart, the line chart possesses other advantages. It is easier to read, for while the bars stand out more prominently than the line, they tend to become confusing if numerous, and especially so when they record alternate increase and decrease. It is easier for the eye to follow a line across the face of the chart than to jump from bar top to bar top, and the slope of the line connecting two points is a great aid in detecting minor changes. The line is also more suggestive of movement than arc bars, and movement is the very essence of a time series. Again, a line chart permits showing two or more related variables on the same chart, or the same variable over two or more corresponding periods." (Walter E Weld, "How to Chart; Facts from Figures with Graphs", 1959)

"Business executives, to be efficient, must constantly plan ahead, but there are pitfalls in attempting to estimate the future growth of a business from a chart of its past history. In the first place, there are too many uncontrollable factors entering into the situation to make the most careful estimate of future growth anything more than a shrewd guess, dependent upon all internal and external conditions remaining the same. To project the growth curve of a business into the future provides a good mark to shoot at, but a bank loan is seldom obtainable on the strength of such a projection."  (Walter E Weld, "How to Chart; Facts from Figures with Graphs", 1959)

"But while charts are always useful and often necessary, they can never be anything more than a means to an end. Let no executive assume that charts, however numerous or complete, can ever serve as an effective substitute for managerial ability or personal effort. No manner or number of charts will enable an incompetent person to run a business successfully, nor insure the efficiency of remote control by even the most competent management. Charts are a help to, not a substitute for executive ability." (Walter E Weld, "How to Chart; Facts from Figures with Graphs", 1959)

"In form, the ratio chart differs from the arithmetic chart in that the vertical scale is not divided into equal spaces to represent equal amounts, but is divided logarithmically to represent percentages of gain or loss. On the arithmetic chart equal vertical distances represent equal amounts of change; on the ratio chart equal vertical distances represent equal percentages of change." (Walter E Weld, "How to Chart; Facts from Figures with Graphs", 1959)

"The great trouble with all business data upon which the statisticians and economists base their forecasts is that they are ancient history before they ever become available. They pertain to conditions which existed some weeks or months previous. The figures for what is going on at the moment in all lines of business are never available. A business index, while of great interest and value, is always historical and never predictive." (Walter E Weld, "How to Chart; Facts from Figures with Graphs", 1959)

"The probability chart, as its name indicates, not only presents a record of what has occurred in the past, but furnishes a sound and scientific basis for estimating what is likely to hap- pen in the future, providing things take their normal course. This is far better than any mere guess or rough estimate, especially in all unprecedented cases." (Walter E Weld, "How to Chart; Facts from Figures with Graphs", 1959)