169 Posts Found

He who have never failed somewhere, that man cannot be great. Failure is the true test of greatness. And if it be said, that continual success is a proof that a man wisely knows his powers — it is only to be added, that, in that case, he knows them to be small.

Content: Quotation | Author: Herman Melville | Source: Bruce Lynn Blog | Subjects: Achievement, Success / Failure

If I had select one quality, one personal characteristic that I regard as being most highly correlated with success, whatever the field, I would pick the trait of persistence. Determination. The will to endure to the end, to get knocked down 70 times and get off the floor saying, ‘Here comes number 71!

Content: Quotation | Author: Richard M. Devos | Source: Bruce Lynn Blog | Subjects: Achievement, Success / Failure

Ambitious people don’t like failing or looking stupid. As the social scientist Chris Argyris (one of the fathers of organizational-learning theory) put it, smart people have trouble learning because it involves so much floundering and failure.

Content: Quotation | Authors: Clint Kilts, Roderick Gilkey | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Ambition, Learning, Personality / Behavior, Success / Failure

I think most big errors are errors of omission rather than errors of commission. They are the ones that companies never get held to account for—the times when they were in a position to notice something and act on it, had the skills and competencies or could have acquired them, and yet failed to do so. It’s the opposite of sticking to your knitting: It’s … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Jeff Bezos | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Judgement, Management, Strategy, Success / Failure | Company: Amazon.com Inc.

Kids will take a chance. If they don’t know, they will have a go…they are not frightened of being wrong. I don’t mean to say that being wrong is being creative. But what we do know is that if you are not prepared to be wrong, you will never come up with anything original. By the time we get to be adults, … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Authors: Bruce Lynn, Katie Ledger | Subjects: Creativity, Success / Failure

On the subject of reflection, Barbara Corday said, “Unfortunately, too often it’s people failures that get them to reflect on their experiences. When you’re going along and everything is working well, you don’t sit down and reflect. Which is exactly the moment when you should do it. If you wait for a giant mistake before you reflect, two things happen. One, … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Bruce Lynn | Subject: Success / Failure

Substance is enduring, form is ephemeral. Failure to distinguish clearly between the two is ruinous. Success follows those adept at preserving the substance of the past by clothing it in the forms of the future.

Content: Quotation | Source: The New Transnational HR Model: Building A Chaordic Organization | Subjects: Success / Failure, Wisdom

Success is like food. It’s all a function of preparation.

Content: Quotation | Source: Business Pundit | Subject: Success / Failure

Big shots are little shots who kept shooting.

Content: Quotation | Source: 800-CEO-READ (8CR) | Subject: Success / Failure

Failures in business are caused by self-centeredness, lack of righteousness, ignorance of the sacred mission of business, treating business as a short-sighted profit-making endeavor, and clinging to outmoded practices.

Content: Quotation | Source: Quest for Prosperity: The Life of a Japanese Industrialist | Subjects: Business Rules, Success / Failure

In business, you can work incredibly hard and your efforts won’t be rewarded if you are playing the wrong game. But you also have the opportunity to change the game, rather than just play it. Success comes from playing the right game.

Content: Quotation | Source: strategy+business | Subject: Success / Failure

Unhappiness is in not knowing what we want and killing ourselves to get it.

Content: Quotation | Source: Various | Subject: Success / Failure

Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get.

Content: Quotation | Source: Various | Subject: Success / Failure

There are two qualities that usually determine a creative person’s potential…curiosity and determination. The curious learn, grow, and develop potential. The determined have the resolve to overcome the obstacles they encounter on their way to fulfilling their potential.

Content: Quotation | Source: ChangeThis | Subjects: Creativity, Success / Failure

The world has a way, not only of stepping aside for men or women who know where they are going, but it often joins and helps them reach their objective.

Content: Quotation | Source: CEO Refresher | Subjects: Goals, Success / Failure

Success is a ruthless competitor for it flatters and nourishes our weakness and lulls us into complacency. We bask in the sunshine of accomplishment and lose the spirit of humility which helps us visualize all the factors which have contributed to our success.

Content: Quotation | Source: Various | Subject: Success / Failure

So it is said that when you know yourself and others, victory is not in danger.

Content: Quotation | Source: CEO Refresher | Subjects: Personal Development, Success / Failure

To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities as you do at conclusions.

Content: Quotation | Source: ExecuNet.com | Subject: Success / Failure

The eminent feel like everyone wants to take a bite out of them. The problem is so widespread that people pretending to be eminent do it by pretending to be overstretched. The lives of the eminent become scheduled, and that’s not good for thinking. One of the great advantages of being an outsider is long, uninterrupted blocks of time.

Content: Quotation | Source: ChangeThis | Subjects: Organizational Behavior, Success / Failure

We use a series of tests and evaluations that produce data that often proves we don’t have a workable solution. The rest of the world would characterize this as a failure. I would characterize this as an exhaustive study of many ways to apply technologies to needs to determine those that fit and those that do not. It’s a mistake to make decisions solely by … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Source: Babson Insight | Subject: Success / Failure