Tom Peters Quotes

Those who make no mistakes are making the biggest mistakes of all - they are attempting nothing new.

When failure is not an option, we can forget about creativity, learning, and innovation.

When men are easy in their circumstances, they are naturally enemies to innovations.

In an organization that is unwilling to change, find the opportunity to talk and interact with people - figure out why they don't want to change. It could be habits. It could be people's personal equities and reputations are defined by the role they're in or the process they've mastered.

Ironically, in a changing world, playing it safe is one of the riskiest things you can do.

The status quo is persistent and resistant. It exists because everyone wants it to. Everyone believes that what they've got is probably better than the risk and fear that come with change.

Clinging to any form of conservatism can be dangerous. Become too conservative and you are unprepared for surprises. You cannot depend on luck. Logic is blind and often knows only its own past. Logic is good for playing chess but is often too slow for the needs of survival.

There's a real danger in trying to stay king of the mountain. You stop taking risks, you stop being as creative, because you're trying to maintain a position. Apart from anything else that really takes the fun out of it.

So nevertheless, what I'm saying is that what one is - one's parameters are constantly narrowed by one's success, and my desire is to widen my field even if I risk failure.

I know what my comfort zones are. But without a back-up, I will never step out of my comfort zone. I don't go bungee jumping; I won't jump from the third floor without a safety net. I don't do such things. That's not my personality type.

The biggest risk is not taking any risk... In a world that changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.

People are very open-minded about new things - as long as they're exactly like the old ones.

I'm at the depot, and I'm not going anywhere. That's better to deal with than having to deal with the unknown. And the unknown is they don't want to fail. They don't want to pay the price unless there's a guarantee they're going to get there.

A lot of guys spend their lives saying no because it's an easier way to keep your job.

Tradition" is very often an excuse word for people who don't want to change.

I think some people get just locked into 'this is the way it has to be,' and they're afraid of messing something up. I don't ever want to be that way with shooting or with anything, really - not just shooting.

I think we stick with what we know.

The fear of mistakes is the fast track to irrelevance.

Yes, I am successful in Asia. But if you think about that too much, you become boring. Because you don't want to take risks.

I know that with most companies that have a lot of success, it tends to throw you off, and you can become more conservative. One of our questions is, How do we keep from being pulled into conservatism because we're afraid of not being successful again?

You get used to a certain thing, and you don't want to change. Because that's what's worked for you.

One of my biggest sources of angst is having people so comfortable with a formula that works that they are not challenging themselves or their ideas.

The worship of safety emasculates greatness.

Luke warm people are continually concerned with playing it safe; they are slaves to the god of control. This focus on safe living keeps them from sacrificing and risking for God.

There are people who make no mistakes because they never wish to do anything worth doing.