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If there is a single tragic flaw that mars our biggest enterprises, it is conservatism – the failure to fail, and fail big, in an era of unprecedented volatility and ambiguity.

Tom Peters

Success requires a persistent misreading of the odds.
TOM PETERS

Misreading Odds Persistent
A completely free library is as rare as a truly free lunch.
TOM PETERS

Free Library Lunch Rare
I think it’s wonderful to save the world, but you need to be part of the world, too.
TOM PETERS

Needs Thinking World
It may be primarily property taxes in the case of a public library, or state taxes and tuition in the case of an academic library at a public university, but the funding sources of most libraries continue to have a strong geographic component.
TOM PETERS

Academic Library Strong Tuition
And remember: Everything in business is a paradox. To be excellent, you have to be consistent. When you’re consistent, you’re vulnerable to attack. Yes, it’s a paradox. Now deal with it!
TOM PETERS

Business Remembers Everything Vulnerable
Execution Excellence! (Show up on time! Leave last!)
TOM PETERS

Entrepreneur Excellence Lasts
Community. A friend started a real estate brokerage a few years ago. By the time she’d added her second employee, she was a pillar of her 35,000-person community.
TOM PETERS

Business Person Real School Second
I think economics is about passion. Economic progress, whether it is a two-person coffee shop or whether it is Netscape, is about people with brave ideas. Because it is brave to mortgage the house, when you’ve got two kids, to start a coffee shop.
TOM PETERS

Coffee Kids Passion
If there is a single tragic flaw that mars our biggest enterprises, it is conservatism – the failure to fail, and fail big, in an era of unprecedented volatility and ambiguity.
TOM PETERS

Ambiguity Era Flaws Mars Unprecedented Volatility
The simple act of paying positive attention to people has a great deal to do with productivity.
TOM PETERS

Positive Productive Work Simple
Leaders understand the ultimate power of relationships.
TOM PETERS

Inspirational Leader Ultimate
Quite simply, no matter how hard you try, no matter how “open” you are, you’ll end up surrounded by “yes people.” It’s hard not to believe people who are repeating your own ideas. Resist the temptation.
TOM PETERS

Believe Friends Ideas
Garbage! Intuition is the new physics. It’s an Einsteinian, seven-sense, practical way to make tough decisions. Bottom line, circa 2001 to 2010: The crazier the times are, the more important it is for leaders to develop and to trust their intuition.
TOM PETERS

Decision Important Intuition More Practical Tough
The worse things get, typically, the more they dig in their heels and defend yesterday’s turf.
TOM PETERS

Defend Thing Worse Yesterday
Today brands are everything, and all kinds of products and services – from accounting firms to sneaker makers to restaurants – are figuring out how to transcend the narrow boundaries of their categories and become a brand surrounded by a Tommy Hilfiger-like buzz.
TOM PETERS

Buzz Figure Sneakers Today Transcend
We cannot innovate without opening the door to havoc.
TOM PETERS

Doors Havoc Innovation

If there is a single tragic flaw that mars our biggest enterprises, it is conservatism – the failure to fail, and fail big, in an era of unprecedented volatility and ambiguity.

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If there is a single tragic flaw that mars our biggest enterprises, it is conservatism – the failure to fail, and fail big, in an era of unprecedented volatility and ambiguity.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

More Tom Peters Quotes