Memorable quotes from the eccentric billionaire

“a list of ten memorable quotes from the eccentric billionaire that offer guidance on leading a life beyond ordinary. A sampling:

“There is no one to follow, there is nothing to copy.”

Life is always fresh and new. We are always on the leading edge, and the successes of the future will not rely on old ways of doing things. Thinking outside the box, embracing change, innovating, taking risks – these are the hallmarks of success in all facets of life.

“I can honestly say that I have never gone into any business purely to make money. If that is the sole motive, then I believe you are better off doing nothing.”

Money is a by-product. It is not a goal in itself. Those who simply chase money end up with nothing of true value, because money in itself does not add anything to life. Money cannot buy the things that matter most in people – wisdom, serenity, leadership, happiness.

“If you can indulge in your passion, life will be far more interesting than if you’re just working.”

Someone said that if you enjoy your job, you’ll never have to work another day. Not everyone can go out and ‘indulge their passion’ right away, but there is good to found in all jobs, and if we focus on the good things, looking for that which is pleasing and which, perhaps, we can influence, it will expand.

Full list of life lessons at Dumb Little Man.”

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Game-Changing Innovations From Emerging Markets

“It’s a shame Obama — and the Western press — didn’t pay attention to the far bigger story happening in many of the countries on his visit: real, game-changing innovations from emerging markets that could point the way for currently stagnant Western firms. The good news for the world economy is that, with economic development occurring in a more dispersed fashion, experiments are underway in more diverse institutional settings than ever before. So, with the right attitude and mindset Western economies should expect to see the emergence of viable models from all over the world, not just their backyards. … A good start would be to abandon shibboleths regarding emerging markets and recognize the expanding areas of innovation emanating from them.”

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Reverse Mentorship

“The word “mentorship” usually evokes imagery of an older, more experienced individual imparting knowledge and know-how upon a younger, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed individual — that’s the traditional use of the word that we’ve all come to know and accept.

Alexa Scordato, however, is turning that word on its head with a concept she calls reverse mentorship. … Pairing senior executives with digital natives seems like an obvious win for the digitally challenged; you put in a few hours a week, and the youngster teaches you how to use Twitter and Facebook. The term “reverse mentorship” can be a bit misleading in that way. What it really is, though, is a two-way conversation — digitally savvy newcomers to the business world have the opportunity to impart their tips and tricks for mastering the Internet, and senior business leaders act as role models and career coaches for budding professionals.”

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Congressional ethics – an oxymoron?

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10 – 1 = 12

“I promise, I’ll do better – just give me another chance”

“This was the third time George was in Jerry’s office in the past 6 months.  First it was for some poorly completed work. Then, it was for a series of missed deadlines.    Now, he was there because of a careless error that cost the company a customer. …Because he was an outgoing person, George was popular around the office, but the 9 other members of Jerry’s team that he worked with had been growing resentful of his seeming ability to “talk his way out of any trouble”. George also knew that his skills were in high demand in his industry, and he figured there would be a reluctance to come down on him very hard because he’d be difficult to replace. He was right. …

Jerry sat back in his chair, and faced a moment of truth.  Does he accept this promise and hope that George finally gets his act together?   Or, does he finally cut his losses and take the risk of having to do more with less? These are the moments that test every leader, but in this case, the decision is very clear. …

10 – 1 = 12.

He should let George go, as soon as possible.  Why?”

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Design thinking is something different

“The concept of design in the traditional sense is often something that is added on at a later stage. Most of us are very familiar with the working routine of asking the designer to make an already developed idea even more attractive to consumers or companies, by applying an attractive design.

The concept of Design Thinking however, is something completely different. Quoting Tim Brown:

“Design thinking can be described as a discipline that uses the designer’s sensibility and methods to match people’s needs with what is technologically feasible and what a viable business strategy can convert into customer value and market opportunity.”

Some core ingredients in the design thinking process are: multidisciplinary teams working together and trying to identify and understand the core of the problem that needs to be solved. The way of working is not linear, it’s an iterative process, where you learn together from each iterative step.”

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When is a pay freeze not frozen

“Yesterday … President Obama … [announced] a Federal Employee Pay Freeze, which the White House says would save $2 billion over the rest of this fiscal year and $28 billion in cumulative savings over the next five years. President Obama’s freeze is really just a partial freeze that applies only to 2011 and 2012 cost of living increases. Most federal employees will still receive seniority-based pay increases over the next two years, and no one’s federal benefits will be affected. And those federal benefits are a big reason why federal worker compensation is so out of whack with private sector reality. … federal pay gives the average federal employee 30–40 percent greater total compensation (wages and benefits) than a comparable private sector worker. Worse, the current federal pay system does little to reward performance. As a result, the federal government is both overpaying underperforming workers and underpaying the most skilled federal employees.”

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Prefer “maybe” to “no”

“I have seen many mistakes salespeople make. The seven most common are:

• Prefer “MAYBE” vs. getting to “NO”. …

• PRESUME vs. ASKING QUESTIONS. …

• Answer UNASKED QUESTIONS. …

• Fail to get to get a BUDGET up front. …

• TOO MANY FOLLOW-UP CALLS when the sale is actually dead. …

• Fail to get a COMMITMENT TO PURCHASE before doing a demonstration. …

• Work without a SYSTEMATIC APPROACH to selling. …”

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The “right stuff”

“Here are eight questions that can be used to evaluate candidates to ensure they have the “right stuff” for [leadership] …

• Do they have the motivation/desire to lead and have an impact?

• Do they have a sense of purpose (personal vision / goals) ?

• Do they have the confidence that they can make a difference (not arrogance)?

• Are they assertive and have the willingness to assert themselves to compete?

• Are they psychologically fit and do they have insight about themselves and empathy towards others?

• Are they centered and are they able to control their emotional impulses (emotional intelligence) ?

• Do they have energy and the stamina to work long hours?

• Do they have average or slightly above average intelligence that meets the cognitive/problem solving requirements for positions above their current level?”

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A great pain in the ass

“House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D.-Mass.), talking about what he expects during the next term on the Appropriations Committee, which will now be led by Republicans:

“The Appropriations Committee, which has been a great plum, is now going to be a great pain in the ass because you’re going to be expected to come up with cuts in things that are very popular, et cetera.”

- Jillian Bandes is Townhall.com’s National Political Reporter

A tribe who does things

“As a leader, when you feel like you need to have all the answers, you create a tribe of people who do things vs a tribe who co-own things.” – Nilofer Merchant

A sure way to lose

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General Electric to Silicon Valley start-ups

“Key concepts …

• Exploration R&D seeks to create new technologies and products for the company to build market leadership. Exploitation R&D focuses on improving existing product lines that the firm already owns, in order to build stronger profits.

• Large firms have many product lines and thus naturally engage in extensive exploitation R&D to improve their current technologies. Small firms and new start-ups have a comparative advantage for undertaking exploration R&D.”

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Keep your head down

“Risk-taking has fallen out of favor in the last two years, the victim of the economic downturn and global unrest. Indeed, the current business mood has become cautious to a fault. Sit tight. … Keep your head down. … Above all, minimize risk. This is what passes for sage advice in today’s business press. We disagree. … we have found that risk-taking always advances our business — in every market and in every season. Risk-taking catches opportunity and keeps you nimble. It builds personal courage and corporate resilience. It allows a company to adapt to changing circumstances and grow to its full potential, even in the face of difficulty. … We believe in “risky business,” and here are four lessons we’ve learned that can be applied to any business. …”

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Calling A Shamrock A Shamrock

“As the European economy grapples with yet another bailout of a bankrupt sovereign state, a storyline is emerging that seeks to frame this latest instance of government interventionism along deliberately disingenuous lines. According to this misleading narrative, Ireland’s abysmal fiscal condition did not come as a result of chronic state overspending, but is instead due to the island nation’s comparatively-low corporate income tax rate. Sound like a familiar song? On both sides of the ocean there appear to be plenty of Keynesian apologists who believe that economic downturns are always caused by greedy capitalists — never by greedy politicians and government bureaucrats.

Now several European nations — led by France and Germany — are insisting that Ireland raise its 12.5 percent corporate tax rate as a prerequisite for receiving a Eurozone loan that would pump tens of billions of Euros into its banking system. Such a tax increase aims to bring Ireland in line with corporate tax rates in France (33 percent) Germany (30 percent), Spain (30 percent) and Great Britain (28 percent) — but it would also stifle productivity and job growth at a time when Irish citizens need their economy to be firing on all cylinders.”

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Giving Our Best

“You get the best out of others when you give the best of yourself.” ~ Harvey S. Firestone

“The hardest thing on earth is choosing what matters.” ~ Sue Monk Kidd

“I’ve been thinking a lot about leadership recently, and its elusive, mutable nature. I believe that the very best leadership is rooted in a deep desire to serve others. Though in its final expression it is outwardly focused on others, if we are to lead well we must have a deep understanding of what lies within us first. … To know ourselves, to really come face to face with who we are, who we mean to be, and how we should spend our time this time around is a lifetime endeavor. Amid the stresses of daily life, how do we ensure that we leading a life composed of the very best we have to give? How do we make our days and years really matter? Here are 5 ways that I measure the quality of what I’m giving: …”

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Two Wolves

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“One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, “My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all.

“One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

“The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: “Which wolf wins?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

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Out-of-the-box thinking

How to be better at brown-nosing

“” …here is research from James Westphal and Ithai Stern at Kellogg School of Management.  They found that being adept at ingratiating behavior was the number-one factor for getting positions at the top of the corporate ladder. According to the study, here are the traits that are most likely to be rewarded.

1) Frame flattery as advice-seeking. For example, you can ask, “How were you able to close that deal so successfully?”

2) Argue before accepting a manager’s opinion.

3) Compliment the manager to friends in his or her social network.

4) Act as if you realize that flattery will make the manager uncomfortable. For example, you can say, “I don’t want to embarrass you but your presentation was really top-notch.”

5) Agree with the manager’s values before agreeing with his or her opinions.

6) Tell the manager’s friends how much you agree with his or her values.

7) Bring up affiliations you think you may have in common with the manager, such as a religious group or political party.”

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Life Lessons Worth (Re)Learning

“Over a month ago, two blogging friends … invited me to participate in their Life Lesson Series.  The idea was to capture ”things I wish I’d known earlier” …. I procrastinated on producing the post, but then Thanksgiving provided some much needed time for reflection.  I like to think this post is better for the waiting. I don’t know if I particularly wish to have learned all these lessons earlier (see lesson #14 as to why), but I’m honored to share what I’ve (hopefully) learned with my readers and the greater community.”

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Everyone else is already taken

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” – Oscar Wilde

How utterly different we are

“The more I read about Gen-Y and the more I observe my own actions and those of my fellow Millennials I can’t help but wonder how utterly different we are. Though everyone in a sense represents of a series of attitudes and actions and ways of life, it’s those minor and smaller factors that are having an extraordinary impact on just about everything that defines us as Gen-Y and Millennials. Over the last week, 3 articles in particular stood out. And they stood out in a way that is quite opposite and contradictory to how this same age-group grew up within previous generations. “Opposite” itself might not be the best used word here, but it does allow us to take on an interesting viewpoint. …

The intriguing reality is that these are but a few examples. There is a plethora of characteristics and examples that define Gen-Y as a very different and unique set of individuals. Don’t get me wrong here, these actions are not exclusive to only Gen-Y. The most important factor here is the differentiation that exists within our wants, thought processes and beliefs of freedoms. In a sense, it’s all very much a sense of “opposites” to what it all once was.”

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So much is BS

“As I’m reviewing business plans from college grads I’m mentoring (as an alumnae mentor at Brown Univ ) and from Glengary , the VC firm I’m a partner in, this whole business plan process is getting to me. So much of what I see in biz plans is, pardon the phrase, BS. We all know none of us believe any of the numbers is the proformas, the market growth, etc., so why do we bother with all this stuff when we know it’s a joke? I don’t know, but here’s what I’d like to see in a biz plan for a change.”

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Believing the lie

“One of the problems in life … is that bad habits are easy to develop, while good habits are hard to develop.  Think about it, no one ever creates a plan to get out of shape, but many have performed the task admirably, myself included.  On the other hand, there have been seasons in my life, where through discipline, I have been in great shape.  I know that I can do both, but one takes constant discipline, the other doesn’t.  How many things in life is this true of? … you stand at a fork in the road.  If you haven’t produced the results that you yearn for, look no further than your daily habits.  Look at your road.  Can you see the long term results developing from your habits?  Are you happy with these results in your life? If you are, then forge ahead, but if you aren’t, then perhaps today is the day, in which you take a different road. …

Winners choose the success road, enduring the hardships, knowing that success lies on the other side of the pain, while others choose the mediocrity road, seeing only the perceived comfort, believing the lie, that life can be lived successfully without paying a price.”

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Why I am an Entrepreneur

“… if I had chosen to work at a large company, and had worked my way up the ranks, there is a pretty good likelihood that I would have a solid job. Maybe a wife and kids. Perhaps a bunch of golf buddies a solid 401k, and if everything worked out properly, I would get to have sex with my wife more than once a week. Why did I chose the life of an entrepreneur? For most, its a lonely life. You spend more time with your laptop than any living creature. I have literally worn through keyboards and watched computers smoke because of how hard I push them. I travel so much, that I really don’t know Boulder very well, or have a local network of friends. If I were to list out the folks I physically spend the most time with, none would be in Boulder. Its a cheap life. I make less money now annually than I did 5-6 years ago. Yeah, I had the exciting times of building and selling a company, but mostly because of my own idiocy, not much of that money is left. … So why am I an entrepreneur? Because ….”

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