Mindless habitual behavior is the enemy of innovation.

The middle of every successful project looks like a disaster.

The degree to which the opportunity to use power effectively is granted to or withheld from individuals is one operative difference between those companies which stagnate and those which innovate.

People who are making decisions about the future often don't have access to some of the best ideas in the company, which may be at the periphery or at lower levels.

The importance of discretion increases with closeness to the top of a hierarchical organization.

A basic truth of management - if not of life - is that nearly everything looks like a failure in the middle.

Leaders must wake people out of inertia. They must get people excited about something they've never seen before, something that does not yet exist.