Business Culture Quotes

“When you work on something that only has the capacity to make you 5 dollars, it does not matter how much harder you work – the most you will make is 5 dollars.”
― idowu koyenikan, Wealth for All: Living a Life of Success at the Edge of Your Ability

“One of Job's great strengths was knowing how to focus. " Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do, " he said. " That's true for companies, and it's true for products.”
― Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs

“Jobs's intensity was also evident in his ability to focus. He would set priorities, aim his laser attention on them, and filter out distractions. If something engaged him- the user interface for the original Macintosh, the design of the iPod and iPhone, getting music companies into the iTunes Store-he was relentless. But if he did not want to deal with something - a legal annoyance, a business issue, his cancer diagnosis, a family tug- he would resolutely ignore it. That focus allowed him to say no. He got Apple back on track by cutting all except a few core products. He made devices simpler by eliminating buttons, software simpler by eliminating features, and interfaces simpler by eliminating options.
He attributed his ability to focus and his love of simplicity to his Zen training. It honed his appreciation for intuition, showed him how to filter out anything that was distracting or unnecessary, and nurtured in him an aesthetic based on minimalism.”
― Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs

“People will typically be more enthusiastic where they feel a sense of belonging and see themselves as part of a community than they will in a workplace in which each person is left to his own devices”
― Alfie Kohn, Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise and Other Bribes

“There would be times when we'd rack our brains on a user interface problem, and think we'd considered every option, and he would go, " Did you think of this? " said Fadell. " And then we'd all go, " Holy Shit." He'd redefine the problem or approach, and our little problem would go away.”
― Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs

“Jobs and Clow agreed that Apple was one of the great brands of the world, probably in the top five based on emotional appeal, but they needed to remind folks what was distinctive about it. So they wanted a brand image campaign, not a set of advertisements featuring products. It was designed to celebrate not what the computers could do, but what creative people could do with the computers. " This wasn't about processor speed or memory," Jobs recalled. " It was about creativity." It was directed not only at potential customers, but also at Apple's own employees: " We at Apple had forgotten who we were. One way to remember who you are is to remember who your heroes are. That was the genesis of that campaign.”
― Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs

“Bob Iger, Disney's chief operating officer, had to step in and do damage control. He was as sensible and solid as those around him were volatile. His background was in television; he had been president of the ABC network, which was acquired in 1996 by Disney. His reputation was as an corporate suit, and he excelled at deft management, but he also had a sharp eye for talent, a good-humored ability to understand people, and a quiet flair that he was secure enough to keep muted. Unlike Eisner and Jobs, he had a disciplined calm, which helped him deal with large egos. " Steve did some grandstanding by announcing that he was ending talks with us," Iger later recalled. " We went into crisis mode and I developed some talking points to settle things down.”
― Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs

“Jobs also used the meetings to enforce focus. At Robert Friedland's farm, his job had been to prune the apple trees so that they would stay strong, and that became a metaphor for his pruning at Apple. Instead of encouraging each group to let product lines proliferate based on marketing considerations, or permitting a thousand ideas to bloom, Jobs insisted that Apple focus on just two or three priorities at a time. " There is no one better at turning off the noise that is going on around him," Cook said. " That allows him to focus on a few things and say no to many things. Few people are really good at that.”
― Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs

“The first step out of the gate has to be knowing where you want to end up. What do you really want from your company?”
― Stan Slap

“Great leaders exhibit optimism that becomes infectious to others and they feed off that optimism.”
― Mark Villareal, A Script for Aspiring Women Leaders: 5 Keys to Success

“We'll have better communities, better cities, better states, better nations, and a better world - simply because businesses are creating and adding value for other groups of people. That's the power, the depth and the magnitude of the core essence of business.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, CEO of Mayflower-Plymouth

“The truth no matter how hard it is to bear, must be accepted and confronted head on because it is real. Businesses and people who accept truth soar.”
― Germany Kent

“The worst sin you can ever commit to yourself is to sit and wait for someone to give you money”
― Mac Duke The Strategist

“A newly defined market will require either new capabilities or a new focus applied to current capabilities.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr., Business Paradigm Shifting: A Quick 6-Step Guide to Remaining Relevant as Markets Change

“Jesus taught us to be good stewards of capital.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, 4 Business Lessons From Jesus: A businessmans interpretation of Jesus' teachings, applied in a business context.

“A few rare exceptions aside - only by selling products and services that people need, want or desire, can a business earn money.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr

“Trust is risk, and risk avoidance is the name of the game in business. ~ Tom West. 130-131”
― Tracy Kidder, The Soul of a New Machine

“Jesus taught us to be value adders.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, 4 Business Lessons From Jesus: A businessmans interpretation of Jesus' teachings, applied in a business context.

“What is recognized to be character in an individual is usually called culture in an organization.”
― David Amerland, Intentional: How To Live, Love, Work and Play Meaningfully

“BUYING AND SELLING SERVICE IS MY BEST KNOWN BUSINESS.”
― P.S. Jagadeesh Kumar

“What we need is a moral revolution, one that helps us reimagine and reform technology, business, and politics, thereby touching all aspects of our lives. By “moral,” I don’t mean strictly adhering to established rules of authority or convention regardless of consequence. I mean a set of principles focused on elevating our individual and collective dignity: a daily choice to serve others, not simply benefit ourselves. I mean complementing the audacity that built the world we know with a new humility more attuned to our interdependence.”
― Jacqueline Novogratz

“The African business dynamics is still complicated as compared to the rest of the world, in America Tesla started making better cars, electric, to be used GLOBALLY competing with car makers like Toyota, Amazon was started to provide services GLOBALLY, Uber started to serve and compete with taxi's GLOBALLY.
In Africa James started a chicken business to compete with his neighbor supplying eggs to the community near them, Jane started a clothing business to compete with another clothing business in her area of residence."
Africa; Starting small, does not mean think small, and stay small.”
― Dwayne Mulenga Isaac Jr

“As leaders, what we do one-on-one impacts what we do in meetings and groups. How we think and behave on a micro level is reflected at the macro level. If we are intentional and mindful as individual leaders, that intentionality and mindfulness will reverberate throughout our companies, families, and entire lives. We can be more effective and more deliberate across situations and relationships.”
― Janice Fraser, Farther, Faster, and Far Less Drama: How to Reduce Stress and Make Extraordinary Progress Wherever You Lead

“...and it just pisses me off more. Like yeah, I cry when I watch those sad puppy videos too, but Gabriel's not actually a puppy abandoned by his owner. He's an upper middle-class Vermont kid who's parents business beats ours like ten months out of twelve. It's not my fault that emotionally, his about as stable as a cheap styrofoam cup.”
― Emery Lee

“Many entrepreneurs do not know the value of a problem solved, most of them only look for quick and cheap solutions for problems they did not thoroughly evaluate.”
― Marino Baccarini

“Balance business acumen with customer acumen.”
― Janna Cachola

“Good people are the key to a happy life. Integrity and authenticity are the key to self-respect. Trust is the key to good business.”
― Jacky Fitt, How to Be in Business: Build the Mindset and Marketing to Adapt and Succeed as a Startup

“Good collaboration leads to improvement. Great collaboration leads to innovation.”
― Jacky Fitt, How to Be in Business: Build the Mindset and Marketing to Adapt and Succeed as a Startup

“The goal is to hire those who are passionate about your WHY, your purpose, cause or belief, and who have the attitude that fits your culture. Once that is established, only then should their skillset and experience be evaluated.”
― Simon Sinek (Author), Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspi

“In gathering data from more than five hundred people about their experience on more than one thousand teams, I have found a consistent
reality: When there is a serious lack of clarity about what the team stands for and what their goals and roles are, people experience confusion, stress, and frustration. When there is a high level of clarity, on the other hand, people thrive.

When there is a lack of clarity, people waste time and energy on the trivial many. When they have sufficient levels of clarity, they are capable of greater breakthroughs and innovations—greater than people even
realize they ought to have—in those areas that are truly vital. In my work, I have noticed two common patterns that typically emerge when
teams lack clarity of purpose.

PATTERN 1: PLAYING POLITICS

In the first pattern, the team becomes overly focused on winning the attention of the manager. The problem is, when people don’t know what the end game is, they are unclear about how to win, and as a result they
make up their own game and their own rules as they vie for the manager’s favor. Instead of focusing their time and energies on making a
high level of contribution, they put all their effort into games like attempting to look better than their peers, demonstrating their self-importance, and echoing their manager’s every idea or sentiment. These kinds of activities are not only nonessential but damaging and
counterproductive.”
― Greg McKeown, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less