Lao Tzu Quotes

Anticipate the difficult by managing the easy.

If you don't choose to do it in leadership time up front, you do it in crisis management time down the road.

We must solve problems before they occur, rather than scrambling to deal with crises after they erupt..

I'd say if you wanted to forestall bad events, the best thing to do is anticipate them and try to correct them before they get close.

We must be part of the general staff at the inception, rather than the ambulance drivers at the bitter end.

It is axiomatic in politics that the earlier one addresses a problem, the more the alternatives and the easier the solutions.

Prepare for the difficult while it is still easy. Deal with the big while it is still small. Difficult undertakings have always started with what easy. Great undertakings always started with what is small. Therefore the sage never strives for the great,And thereby the great is achieved.

The earlier you start to solve a problem, the less draconian the solution needs to be.

Look several months ahead, see where the obstacles lie, and figure out ways to overcome them.

This is something that baffles me about managers: if you know the formation that you will revert to if you are in trouble, why not start with it?

The man of action has the present, but the thinker controls the future.

If I hear something's not quite going right, then I'm there quicker than if I hear something's going wrong.

You want to be an alchemist so badly? Don't wait to react to the immediate problem. Plan ahead. Look at the big picture and you won't ever have to deal with that problem. Better to save yourself from a major catastrophe than drag your feet over a bunch of little inconveniences.

The essence of leadership is being able to see the iceberg before it hits the Titanic.

Lay plans for the accomplishment of the difficult before it becomes difficult; make something big by starting with it when small.

The way you continue to be a successful business is you don't wait for the car to go off the cliff. You have to manage yourself. And make sure you do it in the right way so you are not making decisions in crisis.

Some think that by preparing to deal with crises you make them more likely. I think the wiser judgment is the contrary. In this area at least, if you want peace or stability, it's better to prepare for war or instability.

Foresight turns out to be a critical adaptive strategy for times of great stress.

As part of our renewal - we need to fight problems, not just wait for them to take place.

To enjoy enduring success we should travel a little in advance of the world.

Game management is accomplished by staying constantly alert and then reading and reacting to potential problem situations before they materialize. It all boils down to paying attention to details.

In other words, by finding the anomalous event, what you do is you get out ahead of activities.

The art of government is to deal with threats before they become overwhelming.

I think you have to see two steps ahead of things. That's just the way I roll.

There is a time for weighing evidence and a time for acting. And if there's one thing I've learned throughout my work in finance, government, and conservation, it is to act before problems become too big to manage.