Jack Ma Quotes

If you can't win, make sure you don't lose.

The way that I like to fight is I like to paint myself into a corner and so the only way is for me to win.

Strategic planning is not strategic thinking. Indeed, strategic planning often spoils strategic thinking, causing managers to confuse real vision with the manipulation of numbers.

Let us not confuse objectives with methods. Too many so-called leaders of the nation fail to see the forest because of the trees. Too many of them fail to recognize the vital necessity of planning for definite objectives. True leadership calls for the setting forth of the objectives and the rallying of public opinion in support of these objectives.

Don't let the vision be shot through with holes, but be damn sure some of your best and brightest are shooting at it -- with bazookas as well as sniper's rifles.

Be willing to lose a battle in order to win the war.

The real heart of strategy is the strategist.

It is one thing to see the forward path and another to be able to take it. But it is better to have an ambitious plan than none at all.

I've always had goals, always had visions, always had a plan, always been very strategic.

To win by strategy is no less the role of a general than to win by arms.

A wise man in China asked his gardener to plant a shrub. The gardener objected that it only flowered once in a hundred years. "In that case," said the wise man, "plant it immediately." [On the importance of fundamental research.]

The two most fundamental strategic choices are deciding where to play and how to win.

You win by struggle, and that requires understanding and serious analysis of the options and the circumstances, and then you can do a lot.

Hope is not strategy. Hope fits with vision, but we must have a strategy and a process to make our vision become a reality.

People who consistently win have a clear and thoughtful strategy. They know what they need to do and when they need to do it. They write it down so they stay on course, and avoid any alternative that does not get them closer to the finish line.

I do not like the phrase: Never cross a bridge till you come to it. The world is owned by men who cross bridges on their imaginations miles and miles in advance of the procession.

The most important criteria for a DNC chair is going to be vision.

We need to be strong in order to avoid war; and to win. A politician looks forward only to the next election. A statesman looks forward to the next generation. Any person who is over 30 and is not a conservative, has no brains.

I have also made this a point in our company: We need to stop taking baby steps and start thinking globally. It really seems to be helping.

All things are created twice. There's a mental or first creation, and a physical or second creation of all things. You have to make sure that the blueprint, the first creation, is really what you want, that you've thought everything through. Then you put it into bricks and mortar. Each day you go to the construction shed and pull out the blueprint to get marching orders for the day. You begin with the end in mind.

It is important not to let emotions get in the way of cold, hard, calculated military planning. Emotions may win arguments, but they don't win wars.

Business is a game, played for fantastic stakes, and you're in competition with experts. If you want to win, you have to learn to be a master of the game.

We don't realize that we face a frustrating situation in which we win every battle, but we lose the war.

Broaden your vision, and maintain stability while advancing forward. That is my philosophy.

If you know you don't have a win, then there's no use for you being in the game.