Knowing the importance of luck, you should be particularly suspicious when highly consistent patterns emerge from the comparison of successful and less successful firms. In the presence of randomness, regular patterns can only be mirages.

Organizations may be better able to tame optimism than individuals are.

The dominance of conclusions over arguments is most pronounced where emotions are involved.

Some achieve a reputation for great successes when in fact all they have done is take chances that reasonable people wouldn't take.

In strategic decisions, I'd be really concerned about overconfidence.

Each additional day together is a gift. The end of the day means the end of hostilities, the recognition that the underlying shared values and commitment to the relationship trump the need for one last dig or self-righteous justification.

Intuitive diagnosis is reliable when people have a lot of relevant feedback. But people are very often willing to make intuitive diagnoses even when they're very likely to be wrong.