Charles Babbage Quotes

An open-minded person running a business might catch a problem faster than a closed-minded person. And when they identify a problem, they can fix it much faster.

A president, like a college freshman, can't know in advance which questions he'll have to answer or what topics he'll have to master. He has to be flexible, supple, and responsive. He has to be comfortable with multiple-choice.

As a leader, you have to have the ability to assimilate new information and understand that there might be a different view.

Any leader needs to be constantly interested in what's going on in the world, and constantly ready - even when things are going well - to change.

Who knows what technology will emerge in the next five years, let alone 20. Yet the education we provide our children now is supposed to last for decades. We cannot train them for jobs that do not even exist yet, but we can provide them with the minds and tools they'll need to adapt to our ever-changing set of circumstances.

There are times when even the best manager is like the little boy with the big dog, waiting to see where the dog wants to go so he can take him there.

If you're in such a position of power and your ego is such that this is not possible, then its essential to have a small cadre of very bright, committed people who are questioning, exploring and understanding these emerging concepts.

A great statesman is he who knows when to depart from traditions, as well as when to adhere to them.

Yet you must not cling to the words of the old sages either; they, too, may not be right. Even if you believe them, you should be alert so that, in the event that something superior comes along, you may follow that.

You need to be open and explore while heading where you want to go. You can never be too in love with your own ideas. If you can remember every idea that is yours in a script, as opposed to someone else's, then something is wrong.

The basic DNA we've got to implant in leaders now is adaptability: not to get wedded to the solution to a particular problem, because not only the problem but the solution changes day to day. Creating people who are hardwired for that is going to be our challenge for the future.

One of the great creative statesmen of our age was Franklin Roosevelt. He was creative precisely because he preferred experiment to ideology.

I had noticed that many of these successful people, historical and contemporary, shared certain common traits. They had a way of thinking that was exceptionally fluid; they could adapt to almost any circumstance; when confronted with problems, they could look at them from novel perspectives and solve them.

FCA is a culture of leaders and employees that were born out of adversity and who operate without sheet music.

When you build your network, keep yourself open to new ideas, concepts, and theories. Some of them may even contradict and challenge long-held points of view. This isn't beneficial only to someone in my profession, but to every line of work.

Being nimble and ready to change our minds if need be is an attribute that is crucial to live and thrive in a society that is powered by science and technology, both as an individual and as an engaged citizen.

The thing about it is, I'm one of these people that if you're not getting anywhere, you gotta change it up, and you gotta ask more questions.

As the world we live in is so unpredictable, the ability to learn and to adapt to change is imperative, alongside creativity, problem-solving, and communication skills.

In a crisis, the man worth his salt is the man who meets the needs of the situation in whatever way is necessary.

Put aside your need for a step-by-step manual and instead realize that analogies are your best friend.

To be fertile in hypotheses is the first perquisite of creativity and to be willing to throw them away the moment experience contradicts them is the next.

Masses are rude, lame, unmade, pernicious in their demands and influence, and need not to be flattered, but to be schooled. I wish not to concede anything to them, but to tame, drill, divide, and break them up, and draw individuals out of them.

You know I'm finished with the old chess because it's all just a lot of book and memorization you know.

The ruling power within, when it is in its natural state, is so related to outer circumstances that it easily changes to accord with what can be done and what is given it to do.

People who know how to creatively break the rules also know why the rules were there in the first place.