The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. GEORGE BERNARD SHAW
It was like being a fly on the wall at a meeting. JACK WELCH ON HIS JOB AT AGE TWELVE AS A CADDY FOR LOCAL BUSINESSMEN AT A SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS, COUNTRY CLUB
He therefore determined to hire a hatchet man to do the nasty work for him, bringing in a former McKinsey operative and giving him the title of Chief Operating Officer. This COO was himself quite expe...
Even now, and you can look at me: Am I a savage person? My conscience is clear. —POL POT The eradication of conscience is one of the toughest things you’re going to have to learn. Not everyone can do...
But if you’re serious about the path to enlightenment and lucrative stock options, go quietly with us in the noise and haste as we take a look at our lives and ask the one pertinent question for those...
So this smart, overpaid, sassy dude goes into his first major meeting with our then-CEO, Mark. He spends a fair amount of time shitting on the efforts of the corporation to date, and making a lot of n...
I believe the principles of structural revolution are the same, Lou Gerstner pointed out in the middle of his positive transformation of IBM. First, it takes personal commitment on the part of the CEO...
Fear is like fire. If you don’t know how to handle it, it can kill you. But if you use it correctly, it can warm your house.
Dude, he said, adopting the modified surfer patois that binds together much of the more youthful cadre of senior management. You can’t take me out. This place is nothing without a planning operation t...
Don’t you ever turn your back on me when I’m talking. CITIGROUP SENIOR EXECUTIVE JAMIE DIMON TO THE COMPANY’S VICE CHAIRMAN, DERYCK MAUGHAN, AT A BLACK-TIE DINNER. WHEN MAUGHAN TURNED AWAY FROM HIM, D...
You get the picture. The marvelous thing about the human ego is that each one is slightly different. Deep inside you, there’s an enormously objectionable force yearning to leap forth and spew toxic go...
When lightning is obviously about to strike a certain tree, one must consider sitting under another.
The worst things are done not by people who believe they are doing wrong, but by those who are convinced that they walk with the hand of God on one shoulder.
Are you willing to die for yourself? If you want to be, you have to be able to take the very first step toward attaining that capability. You have to be willing to live for yourself.
Today we will tackle the rudiments of getting people to buy the thing you’re selling. This is the heart of all activity of any kind in the human sphere. Along with the opposable thumb, this capacity—t...
To live true to the vision of the master, we must be as selfish, narcissistic, manipulative, driven, and creative in getting what we want as we can be, not just in our important business actions, but...
Throughout our time here on earth, we all have a choice. To do things the mediocre way . . . or Machiavelli’s way.
These are tough times, said the COO to each of them. And tough times call for hard solutions. Thank you for your contribution. Now get the fuck out of here. Actually, he didn’t say that precisely. But...
There is no such thing as a merger. There are only buyers and sellers. Those who are bought are in danger when they have to bend over to pick up the soap. That’s good to know.
The beauty part of business warfare, unless your business is importing cocaine from Colombia or covering up a nuclear fuel spill in the Midwest, is that there is rarely any actual blood involved. Mayb...