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A while back, I came across a line attributed to IBM founder Thomas Watson. If you want to achieve excellence, he said, you can get there today. As of this second, quit doing less-than-excellent work.

Tom Peters

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Tom Peters
Age: 82
Born: 1942
Born: November 7
Businessperson
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Watson
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Power lies in the details, and the tenacious pursuit of such hidden levers can pay off enormously. While you don't want to get a reputation as a prissy worrywart, worrying about the details in private is important. You may think you are the world's greatest speaker, but if the auditorium's sound system is singing static - well, forget it.
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He who makes the quickest, coolest prototypes reigns!
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Every collection reflects the ideas andvalues and interests of the individual or group who developed the collection.
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The dominant culture in most big companies demands punishment for a mistake, no matter how useful, small, invisible.
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Transforming leadership, [is defined as] leadership that builds on man's need for meaning, leadership that creates institutional purpose ... he is the value-shaper, the exemplar, the maker of meanings ... he is the true artist, the true pathfinder.
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For me, reading is reading.
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MP3 players and flash memory devices are good for data storage and playback of music and digital talking books, but they offer little or nothing in the way of visual presentation of information and communication.
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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!
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If future competitiveness depends on treating people as an important part of the institution, the least respectful thing I can imagine doing to a human being is asking him to urinate in a cup.
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You are who you go to lunch with! Break bread with cool and you will become more cool. Conversely: break bread with dull and well, you can figure it out.
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Portability of lots of information should not be underestimated.
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The thing that keeps a business ahead of the competition is excellence in execution.
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If the person you delegated to does the job twice as well as you would have done it, consider yourself a leader.
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You can't think your way out of a box you've got to act.
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