Throw leaders into an extreme environment, and it will separate the stark differences between greatness and mediocrity.

The main point is first get the right people on the bus (and wrong people off the bus) before you figure out where to drive it. The second key point is the degree of sheer rigor in people decisions in order to take a company from Good to Great.

Creativity dies in an indisciplined environment.

The people who don't have a great life are the ones who settle for a good one.

Most people will look back and realize they did not have a great life because it's just so easy to settle for a good life.

A visionary company doesn't simply balance between idealism and profitability: it seeks to be highly idealistic and highly profitable. A visionary company doesn't simply balance between preserving a tightly held core ideology and stimulating vigorous change and movement; it does both to an extreme.

Greatest danger is not failure, but be successful and not know why.