All 3 Uses of
initiative
in
Outliers
- In the famous nineteenth-century novels of Horatio Alger, young boys born into poverty rise to riches through a combination of pluck and initiative.†
Chpt 1 *initiative = the ability and tendency to determine what should be done and to start doing it without instruction; or to start something
- But she had gone to work as a seamstress at the age of fifteen and had become a prominent garment union organizer, and what you learn in that world is that through your own powers of persuasion and initiative, you can take your kids to Carnegie Hall.†
Chpt 5
- They take initiative.†
Chpt 7
Definition:
the ability and tendency to determine what should be done and to start doing it without instruction
or:
to start something
or:
to start something
The exact meaning of starting something depends upon the context. For example:
- "She did it on her own initiative." -- started it without anyone telling her to
- "She seized the initiative." -- started actions that force others to react to her rather than her having to react to them
- "the peace initiative" -- a plan or the start of actions to bring about something
- "a ballot initiative" -- a proposed law that is started by citizen petition rather than by the legislature (applicable in many jurisdictions such as California)