Instead, Ms. Deitz hosts salon-style evenings for donors at her Upper East Side apartment.

WSJ: Culture City: The Quarterly Wins the Race

Deitz points out the value of completing the OODA loop with an immediate and thorough debrief.

FORBES: What a Fighter Pilot Knows About Business: The OODA Loop

When a check comes in from a new donor, Ms. Deitz calls directly with a thank you.

WSJ: Culture City: The Quarterly Wins the Race

Ms. Deitz, who is 74, became editor in 1998, just as the Internet began to dissolve the established media order.

WSJ: Culture City: The Quarterly Wins the Race

So Ms. Deitz became the editor, a role that complemented her own writing as a critic of art, architecture and landscape design.

WSJ: Culture City: The Quarterly Wins the Race

Using data from the Census Bureau, economists Jaison Abel and Richard Deitz divided occupations into three groups based on skill level.

FORBES: Wages Becoming Increasingly Polarized, Economists Confirm

It's all considerably less bewildering once a reader is introduced to the magazine's editor, Paula Deitz, who combines a quick eye for talent with a nearly career-long devotion to the project.

WSJ: Culture City: The Quarterly Wins the Race

Ms. Deitz joined in 1967 as an associate editor.

WSJ: Culture City: The Quarterly Wins the Race

From an office inside the Queen Sofia Spanish Institute on Park Avenue, Ms. Deitz and three employees (longstanding loyalists who are often joined by paid interns) do everything in-house, including the taxes.

WSJ: Culture City: The Quarterly Wins the Race

Deitz and Schulte raise some interesting points.

FORBES: What a Fighter Pilot Knows About Business: The OODA Loop