Even a poor, out-of-datecollection reflects in its own way the values of the people who created it and the community it serves.
Tom PetersMistakes are life. Mistakes are not to be tolerated...they are to be encouraged. The bigger the better.
Tom PetersThere's nobody in the world that wouldn't change places with the Americans. The economy is phenomenally large, the entrepreneurial class is very alive and very well, the universities, despite budget problems, still turn out something like 90 percent of the refereed academic and technical articles in the world. There's a lot on everybody's agenda.
Tom PetersThe idea of intimately entwining with customers [to get ideas] is an idea whose time has come.
Tom PetersIf the person you delegated to does the job twice as well as you would have done it, consider yourself a leader.
Tom PetersAuthority never matches responsibility. That's one of the great myths and delusions of all times. Winning managers and individual performers at all levels know that effectiveness means building your own network and creating your own authority. Those who succeed always reach far beyond formal deputation, take initiatives, and take the heat when things go awry. That's true in the military in times of war, true for 200 person manufacturing firms, and true at giant automakers or software companies.
Tom Peters