Ben Sasse Quotes

What will become compellingly important is absolute clarity of shared purpose and set of principles of conduct sort of institutional genetic code that every member of the organization understands in a common way, and with deep conviction.

Innovation has nothing to do with how many R & D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R & D. It's not about money. It's about the people you have, how you're led, and how much you get it.

I try to motivate people and align our individual incentives with organizational incentives. And then let people do their best.

Strategy is not really a solo sport - even If you're the CEO.

As an entrepreneur and investor, I prioritize construction and collaboration. Whether it's a five-person start-up or a global giant, the companies that are most productive are the ones whose employees operate with a shared sense of purpose and a clear set of policies for responding to changing conditions and new opportunities.

I don't think it's my job, single-handedly, to fix anything. I think it's my job to have a vision and have a plan that is reasonable and workable and get as many people to the table to effect change as possible.

It's very important that we all have a common understanding of our purpose as a business - what we aspire to - and a strategy for achieving it.

I never had any question about the direction we were going in at the Girl Scouts. We shared our mission and research with all levels of leaders from the very beginning - a concept I created, using cups and saucers, called 'circular management.' Everyone was on a team; there were no superiors or subordinates. There was respect for all people.

It is the manager and the team that affect performance, not the size of the fund or firm.

Collaboration is a key part of the success of any organization, executed through a clearly defined vision and mission and based on transparency and constant communication.

A manager is a guide. He takes a group of people and says, 'With you I can make us a success; I can show you the way.'

When there's a clear vision, and you've got the creative teams working toward that goal, each on their own, it can then come together quite elegantly at the endpoint.

Successful organizations, including the Military, have learned that the higher the risk, the more necessary it is to engage everyone's commitment and intelligence.

I always run inclusive and successful organisations.

A fundamental principle that I learned in my career, and a principle that my consulting company McChrystal Group helps American civilian companies to adopt, is that winning units and organizations ensure that the time they actually spend - daily, weekly, and yearly - must hew closely to their priorities.

To be the organization that we want to be, we have to have a place to play.

You have to have an idea of what you need to do, what needs to be fixed, what can be improved, what we should now imagine together which we didn't previously imagine. And having thought of it, decide to go it. And that's the government's role.

I would say that I'm blessed with a very, very good executive team that operates, reasonably autonomously, each of the companies.

The one thing that I don't think the Obama administration gets anywhere near enough credit for is the high level of administrators. They meet all the time so they can synergize the federal investments. That's the way any corporation would do it.

Good leaders organize and align people around what the team needs to do. Great leaders motivate and inspire people with why they're doing it. That's purpose. And that's the key to achieving something truly transformational.

Usually, I can get the job done with guys in scoring position.

When you join a political party, you are attaching yourself with an organisation of skilled people. And when you work with an organisation, your working capacity becomes double. One can perform better with the help of an organisation to implement their thoughts.

The OECD should respond directly to the specific needs of the member countries. You basically say, 'What works?' You don't have to go on a discovery trip. It's all there; you just call them, and they know. It's like a knowledge bank.

There's no one person that can provide all the insights I need to run the business. There are so many aspects to WeWork: Digital, real estate, operations, space, and design. I pick and choose people who can help in each aspect.

I'm a culture guy. I sort of know all the familiar ingredients to get something going. Once everyone starts to buy in collectively, then that culture can start being built.