Therefore Strategic Technology Services

Saturday 29 November 2014

Great Strategy quotes ... with a few on Leadership & Innovation for good measure

Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality. ~ Warren Bennis

The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing. ~ John Powell

Trying to do what your competitors are doing but basically a little bit better is probably not going to be the winning strategy. The problem is finding what your competitors wouldn't even consider doing. ~ Jamais Cascio

We need to stop thinking about infrastructure as an economic stimulant and start thinking about it as a strategy. Economic stimulants produce Bridges to Nowhere. Strategic investment in infrastructure produces a foundation for long-term growth. ~ Roger McNamee

The company without a strategy is willing to try anything. ~ Michael Porter

Success doesn't necessarily come from breakthrough innovation but from flawless execution. A great strategy alone won't win a game or a battle; the win comes from basic blocking and tackling. ~ Naveen Jain

Most of us understand that innovation is enormously important. It's the only insurance against irrelevance. It's the only guarantee of long-term customer loyalty. It's the only strategy for out-performing a dismal economy. ~ Gary Hamel

Innovation is hard because "solving problems people didn’t know they had" and "building something no one needs" looks identical at first. ~ Aaron Levie

Sound strategy starts with having the right goal. ~ Michael Porter

Living in the past is a Jethro Tull album, not smart poker. ~ Richard Roeper

What do you want to achieve or avoid? The answers to this question are objectives. How will you go about achieving your desire results? The answer to this you can call strategy. ~ William E. Rothschild

So companies have to be very schizophrenic. On one hand, they have to maintain continuity of strategy. But they also have to be good at continuously improving. ~ Michael Porter

80-90% of strategy is not about us; it's about figuring out what way the market is going. ~ Richard Fairbank

If the rate of change on the outside exceeds the rate of change on the inside, the end is near. ~ Jack Welch

Strategy Execution is the responsibility that makes or breaks executives. ~ Alan Branche and Sam Bodley-Scott

Creative without strategy is called "art." Creative with strategy is called "advertising." ~ Jef I. Richards

Wishing is not a #Strategy. ~ Seth Godin

A strategist’s job is to see the company not as it is, but as it can become. ~ John W. Teets

We build too many walls and not enough bridges. ~ Sir Isaac Newton.

A leader focuses on shaping tomorrow. There is little or nothing you can do about yesterday. Learn from it but don’t waste a moment on it. Get on with tomorrow. ~ Jack Welch

The way you treat your employees is the way they will treat their customers ~ Richard Branson
 

If you look at the various strategies available for dealing with a new technology, sticking your head in the sand is not the most plausible strategy. ~ Ralph Merkle

The best CEOs I know are teachers, and at the core of what they teach is strategy. ~ Michael Porter

Before you are a leader success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others. ~ Jack Welch

Hope is not a strategy. Fear is not an option. ~James Cameron

There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all. ~ Peter Drucker

Example is not the main thing in influencing others, it is the only thing. ~ Albert Schweitzer

Complexity is your enemy. Any fool can make something complicated. It is hard to make something simple. ~ Richard Branson

Leaders establish the vision for the future and set the strategy for getting there. ~ John P. Kotter

I believe that people make their own luck by great preparation and good strategy. ~ Jack Canfield

Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat. ~ Sun Tzu

Strategy is not the consequence of planning, but the opposite: its starting point. ~ Henry Mintzberg

Companies that grow for the sake of growth or that expand into areas outside their core business strategy often stumble. On the other hand, companies that build scale for the benefit of their customers and shareholders more often succeed over time. ~ Jamie Dimon

We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them. ~ Albert Einstein

In marketing I've seen only one strategy that can't miss - and that is to market to your best customers first, your best prospects second and the rest of the world last. ~ John Romero

Strategy is about making choices, trade-offs; it's about deliberately choosing to be different. ~ Michael Porter

Strategy is buying a bottle of fine wine when you take a lady out for dinner. Tactics is getting her to drink it. ~ Frank Muir

Change before you have to. ~ Jack Welch

A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new. ~ Albert Einstein

Strategy 101 is about choices: You can't be all things to all people. ~ Michael Porter

If you look at history, innovation doesn't come from just giving people incentives; it comes from creating environments where ideas can connect. ~ Steven Johnson

A goal properly set is halfway reached. ~ Zig Ziglar

It always seems impossible until it's done. ~ Nelson Mandela


Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning. ~ Bill Gates


If you can't fly, then run, if you can't run, then walk, if you can't walk, then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward. ~ Martin Luther King Jr.


Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs. ~ Henry Ford.


Think about big things while you’re doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction. ~ Alvin Toffler


Execution is the ability to mesh strategy with reality, align people with goals and achieve the promised results. ~ Larry Bossidy


Your strategy for success must constantly move, change and evolve. ~ Zaid K Abdelnour


Building a visionary company requires one percent vision and 99 percent alignment. ~ Jim Collins and Jerry Porras


Shareholder value is a result, not a strategy". ~ Jack Welch


Obsessively specialise. No niche is too small if it's yours. ~ Seth Godin


Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower. ~ Steve Jobs


A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all. ~ Michael LeBoeuf


Talent is the No. 1 priority for a CEO. You think it's about vision and strategy, but you have to get the right people first. ~ Andrea Jung


Worse than failure is succeeding at something that doesn't matter. ~ Jesse Lyn Stoner


In real life, strategy is actually very straightforward. You pick a general direction and implement like hell. ~ Jack Welch


You have to be fast on your feet and adaptive or else a strategy is useless. ~ Charles de Gaulle


We need to stop thinking about infrastructure as an economic stimulant and start thinking about it as a strategy. Economic stimulants produce Bridges to Nowhere. Strategic investment in infrastructure produces a foundation for long-term growth. ~ Roger McNamee


Execute! Get your people to execute! ~ Sam Geist


The enterprise that does not innovate inevitably ages and declines. And in a period of rapid change such as the present … the decline will be fast. ~ Peter F. Drucker


The secret of success is finding good people. ~ Richard Branson


Strategy, without information upon which it can rely, is helpless. ~ William J. Donovan


Winning through distinctive choices is the always-and-forever job of every strategist. ~ Michael Porter


Whether you think you can, or you think you can't - you're right. ~ Henry Ford


However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results. ~ Winston Churchill


I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody. ~ Bill Cosby


The biggest risk is not taking any risk... In a world that is changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks. ~ Mark Zuckerberg


Execution IS strategy. ~ Fred Malek

Regular brainstorming is as critical to an organization as regular exercise is to your health. It creates a responsive, innovative culture. ~ Tom Kelley


The essence of #Strategy is choosing what not to do. ~ Michael Porter


Strategy is buying a bottle of fine wine when you take a lady out for dinner. Tactics is getting her to drink it. ~ Frank Muir