How can any company know if its processes, products, people are safe? Only if everyone is watching and telling the truth. The first part can be assumed; the second cannot.
Margaret HeffernanRead
All businesses and jobs depend on a vast number of people, often unnoticed and unthanked, without which nothing really gets done. They are all human and deserve respect and gratitude.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of recognizing and appreciating the often-overlooked contributions of people in any business or job.
Margaret Heffernan's quote highlights the interconnectedness of individuals within the workforce, stressing that every position and contribution, no matter how small or unnoticed, plays a crucial role in the success of a business. It calls for a collective acknowledgment of the human effort behind every achievement and underscores the necessity of respect and gratitude for all workers, emphasizing that their roles should not go unrecognized.
In practice
In a speech at a corporate meeting, to remind staff of everyone's value.
How can any company know if its processes, products, people are safe? Only if everyone is watching and telling the truth. The first part can be assumed; the second cannot.
Most executives I know are so action-oriented, or action-addicted, that time for reflection is the first casualty of their success.
Once you have power, you are inevitably surrounded by people who have their own agendas and will tell you whatever advances them.
If the company depends entirely on you - your creativity, ingenuity, inspiration, salesmanship or charisma - nobody will want to buy it. The risk and the dependency are too great.
Those in powerless positions aren't about to complain about bullying bosses, abusive supervisors or corrupt co-workers. There is no safe way to do so and no process that promises redress.
Bosses and leaders everywhere should cherish the people who bring them bad news, disappointing data or hard problems.
**New business concepts are always, always the product of lucky foresight.** That's right - the essential insight doesn't come out of any dirigiste planning process; it comes form some cocktail of happenstance, desire, curiosity, ambition and need. But at the end of the day, there has to be a degree of foresight -- a sense of where new riches lie. So radical innovation is always one part fortuity and one part clearheaded vision. [first-line bold by author] [2002] p.23
CEOs are paid for doing a terrible job. If the system wasn't so messed up, guys like me wouldn't make this kind of money.
It's so important for startups to get their culture right at the start. They need to feel unique and that they are on their own important mission in the world.
You say: "I'm a blue sky thinker." Investor thinks: "You have no business model, and you don't know how to ship."
If all you needed to do is to figure out what company is better than others, everyone would make a lot of money. But that is not the case. They keep raising the prices to the point when the odds change.
You should learn from your competitor, but never copy. Copy and you die.
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