What Was Sam Walton's Simple Idea Behind Walmart?

David Senra says Sam Walton's idea behind Walmart was absurdly simple: buy cheap, sell low every day, and do it with a smile. Making money was only a game, a test of his imagination and expertise to see how far he could drive a business concept. Wall Street had a hard time getting the drift of that.

The passage illustrates Charlie Munger's idea that you should find a simple idea and take it very seriously. Walton wanted to wake up every day, work on Walmart, and change his mind when new information arrived, turning from going left to going right. He was a genius in business with an iron mind, unwilling to compromise carefully thought out principles, and still flexible. If a course did not work, he was neither too vain nor too blind to see his mistake, say so, and change his heading 180 degrees. Henry Singleton drew criticism for having no five-year, 10-year, or 15-year business plan, and Michael Bloomberg worked the same way.