Insights

PEOPLE & ORGANIZATIONAL

“None of us is smarter than all of us.”

Phil Condit, Boeing

“The energy that resides within your people ̶ it is the future of your organization.”

Thom Winninger ̶ Winninger Institute for Market Strategy

“Great vision without great people is irrelevant.”

Jim Collins ̶ Author of Good to Great

“In small businesses, good management is not a luxury — it’s a necessity.”

Harvard Business Review ̶ on small business management

“Our most important assets wear shoes and go home at night.”

Anonymous

“The greatest mistake I made was hiring the second-best person for the job.”

William Lear

“…a study of the companies that have not succeeded at Venture Creations concluded that the No. 1 cause of failure was the…leader’s inability to build a strong management team.”

Bill Jones – Venture Creations, R.I.T.

Focus

“We can do anything but we can't do everything.”

Anonymous

“...in the end, was a decision made to stop doing anything?”

Steven C. Brandt

“...is available money and talent actually channeled into chosen areas of opportunity?”

Steven C. Brandt

“…remember that the essence of strategy is deciding where to invest time and money – and by implication, where not to invest.”

Bradford and Duncan

“...and the secret to survival is knowing what to throw away and what to keep.”

Kenny Rogers  –  song: The Gambler

“A good strategy will help you anticipate and focus on possibilities – learning that it’s as important to eliminate choices as to purse them.”

Bradford and Duncan

Execution

“Execution is the only strategy customers or competitors ever see.”

Peter Drucker

“…get the people dimension right, keep strategy simple, and execute for results.”

Peter Duncan, Robert Bradford

“...too much stress can be put on choosing the right strategy....The trick is to choose a strategy and then stick with it and make it work....it is the effective execution of a chosen strategy that puts the winners out in front.”

Steven C. Brandt

“Every time, I will back the grade A management team with a grade B plan over the grade B management team with the grade A plan.”

Anonymous

Leadership

“The trick is to manage more and do less.”

Raymond O. Loen

“Our chief want in life is somebody who will make us do what we can.”

Henry David Thoreau

“The No. 1 thing for all leaders: You’re a provider of hope.…I get up every morning. I charge the day. I think when players see you every day and they see how you function...they see everything…so, I just think: what kind of energy do I bring to the building every day?”

Herm Edwards  ̶  Arizona State football coach

“….it takes self-confident leaders to be simple, which is what gives them focus and speed in the market place.”

Jack Welch

“The most important thing in business is to have people working with you, not for you.”

Nelson Harris

“A responsive openness is something that originates inside people. Psychologists say it can occur only in an atmosphere from which fear is absent...fear of mistakes, censure, or even failure. If an atmosphere exists in which there is a low tolerance for fresh ideas, dissent, or contrary opinions then only the surface deposits of available human resources are going to be mined.”

Steven C. Brandt

Vision, Value Creation

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.”

Proust

“The top priority of management is to ensure that there’s a shared vision for the future of the organization and that this vision is a part of the culture.”

Bradford and Duncan

“The planning results that are most important are the ones implanted in the minds of the participants in the process, not the results on the pages of the binders.”

Steven C. Brandt

“Planning is little more than stating where you want to go and how you're going to get there.”

Anonymous

“Bullet proofing key objectives: are they hierarchical, quantitative, realistic, consistent.”

Phillip Kotler

“In the long run, people hit what they aim at.”

Henry David Thoreau

“Action plans, budgets and personal time plans put teeth into the process and lead you to what you want – real results that will optimize the potential of your business.”

Bradford and Duncan

“When there’s a plan, people feel in control. They feel less anxious, more confident about stepping up to opportunities and managing threats. Priorities and efforts within the company become more focused and aligned, reducing friction and increasing productivity.”

Bradford and Duncan

“It is not action but the quality of thinking behind action that determines the quality of management.”

Anonymous

“Without goals is without purpose.”

Anonymous