dispatches from the new world of work

Bias for Action

Quotes Concerning "A Bias for Action"

"Attribute No. 1," In Search of Excellence

Messing around with my favorite topic—the primacy of action over blah blah blah. Put together two attachments. One is a PowerPoint. The other is a set of quotes—the first ten of which are offered up below.

The "Big 10":

"We have a 'strategic plan.' It's called doing things."—Herb Kelleher

"This is so simple it sounds stupid, but it is amazing how few oil people really understand that you only find oil if you drill wells. You may think you're finding it when you're drawing maps and studying logs, but you have to drill."—John Masters, Canadian oil and gas wildcatter, The Hunters

"Can do!"—Motto, U.S. Navy Seabees (U.S. Naval Mobile Construction Battalions)

"Execution is the job of the business leader."—Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/ Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done

"Ready. FIRE! Aim."—H. Ross Perot (versus, he said, the far more common "Aim! Aim! Aim! ...")

"BLAME NO ONE. EXPECT NOTHING. DO SOMETHING."—Locker room sign
posted by NFL football coach Bill Parcells

"Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It's self-conscious and anything self-conscious is lousy. You simply must ... Do things."—Ray Bradbury

"To Be somebody or to Do something."—John Boyd

"Fall seven times, stand up eight."—Japanese proverb

"You miss 100% of the shots you never take."—Wayne Gretzky

Tom Peters posted this on 02/17/12.