From US News and World Report, "America's Best Leaders"

"We try to give a message of quality in everything that we do, which starts with people.  It doesn't do much good to have a quality image, whether it's with the facility or whether it's with the merchandise, if you don't have real quality people taking care of your customers."  Jim Sinegal, CEO for Costco

Dedicated employees at Google as described in the book, The Search

By the author John Battelle:  "Google employees believe that there were too much to do, and far too little time to do it.  Marissa Mayer, an original product manager at Google and a crucial cultural force in the company, is a good example of this.  Mayer, a hummingbird of a woman who speaks faster than most humans can hear, will fly only on red eyes because she doesn't want to miss a single workday."  Congratulations!  Sounds like a Super Bowl champion team being led by a super leader.  (I will have to say that the next time I see a hummingbird, my perspective will be totally different!) :-) 

A military quote:

"When combat is most difficult, we fight for each other."  David Petraeus

Contrary to how weak company executives behave.  When the enemy plants the seed, the weak executives fall for it, hook, line and sinker.  Rapid response means going after their own people, thus destroying the company without even knowing it, until the company no longer exists. Go ahead.  Watch your unqualified top dogs and managers behave and react to situations.  You'll see.

Maybe the powers to be better improve at appointing people to leadership positions....

From US News and World Report:
"We go for these effervescent leaders when what's really needed is a dull, focused, plodding person building effective groups and organizations, says Timothy Judge, chair of mgmt. @ University of Florida.  It turns out that being an extrovert is highly correlated w/being chosen as a leader but not with being a good one, he says."

On that note, enjoy this video by Bon Jovi:
We Weren't Born to Follow

"1 day sale."!

From consumerreports.org:

"Don't worry about missing a one-day sale. It's very likely that another supersale will come along. Last year we found plenty of so-called one-day sales that were extended."  (I wonder how these folks passed Marketing 101, must have cheated, like they are still doing now! :-)

PNRA vs MCD

Psychologically speaking, spending 5 bucks at MCD feels more expensive than spending 9 bucks on half a sandwich, chocolate chip cookie and bowl of soup at PNRA .  Need to research this company more carefully.

Roy Williams describing his NC basketball team

"We have great kids who can lead and allow themselves to be led."

From 8/17 BW article on Starbucks

Says a former executive at SBUX when the company was struggling a few years ago:  "When the numbers went south, we couldn't even make an educated guess about why."  Today, store sales data helped Howard Schultz see an important difference between the morning (when coffee is a necessity) and the afternoon (when it is an indulgence).  "We've never had that level of segmentation before," Schultz says.  "It's a new tool in terms of being able to move the business in different ways."  This from a guy who was quoted as saying "I despise research", but people much smarter than me pushed me in this direction and I've gone along.

From the book, Understanding Variation by Donald J Wheeler

"Learn the tools and you will have nothing.  Learn and practice the way of thinking that undergirds the tools and you will begin an unending journey of continual improvement."

No dilly dallying by this guy...

"Something that must be done eventually should be done immediately."  Jeremy Foley, Florida's AD

Is education really expensive compared to the alternative?

"If you think education is expensive, try ignorance."  Arne Duncan, Education Secretary

What Michael J. Fox said...

When asked if he was embarrassed by having Parkinson's disease:  "I don't control it.  So why would I waste one second of my life worrying about it?

When asked if he felt cheated by having Parkinson's disease:  "No, absolutely not.  It's been a detour that I wouldn't have planned, but it's really led me to amazing places."

From the book, "The Essential Wooden" by John Wooden

"The man died at 25, but wasn't buried until 75."  Ben Franklin was describing a man who stopped learning early on.

A quote I saw...

"You can do anything, but you can't do everything."