Friday, May 31, 2013

Quotes about Strategy

There is always a better strategy than the one you have; you just haven't thought of it yet
Sir Brian Pitman, former CEO of Lloyds TSB, Harvard Business Review, April 2003

Unless a variety of opinions are laid before us, we have no opportunity of selection, but are bound of necessity to adopt the particular view which may have been brought forward
Herodotus, 5th century BC, Greek historian


However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results
Sir Winston Churchill 1874-1965, English statesman

The processes used to arrive at the total strategy are typically fragmented, evolutionary, and largely intuitive
James Quinn in Strategic Change: Logical Incrementalism, 1978

In real life, strategy is actually very straightforward. You pick a general direction and implement like hell
Jack Welch in Winning, 2005

How many senior executives discuss the crucial distinction between competitive strategy at the level of a business and competitive strategy at the level of an entire company?
C.K. Prahalad and Gary Hamel, in their article: The core competence of the corporation, 1990

What's the use of running if you are not on the right road
German proverb

I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me
Abraham Lincoln 1809-1865, sixteenth American president

Perception is strong and sight weak. In strategy it is important to see distant things as if they were close and to take a distanced view of close things
Miyamoto Musashi 1584-1645, legendary Japanese swordsman

Do not repeat the tactics which have gained you one victory, but let your methods be regulated by the infinite variety of circumstances
Sun Tzu c. 490 BC, Chinese military strategist

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