We felt that the employees would take a greater interest in work if they felt they were part of the company.

If I have to tell a guy he's got something to do, I consider myself a failure as a manager.

Creative people have an abiding curiosity and an insatiable desire to learn how and why things work. They take nothing for granted. They are interested in things around them and tend to stow away bits and pieces of information in their minds for the future use. And, they have a great ability to mobilize their thinking and experiences for use in solving a new problem.

If you don't fail on a regular basis, you are not trying hard enough.

Problems, however, are rarely solved on the spur of the moment. They must be organized and dissected, then key issues isolated and defined. A period of gestation then sets in, during which these issues are mulled over. You put them in your mind and consciously or unconsciously work at them at odd hours of the day or night - even at work. It is somewhat analogous to trying to place a name on the face of someone you've met before. Often the solution to a problem comes to you in much the same way you eventually recall the name.

The job of a manager is to support his or her staff, not vice versa, and that begins by being among them.

We felt that the employees would take a greater interest in work if they felt they were part of the company.