LUCKY?

"Luck can be assisted. It is not all chance with the wise."

Baltasar Gracian (1601-1658) Spanish philosopher/writer

And those who "assist" themselves more will be luckier than those who don't.

SELF IMPOSED BLINDNESS

"We are least open to precise knowledge concerning the things we are most vehement about."

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American philosopher/author

And we are often most ignorant about things we are most vehement about.

Easy to fix.

Simply train your knee-jerk reaction to be "what else might be true?" rather than "what I think is true is true."

Do that and you'll be surprised how much more you learn.

FOR THOSE WHO DON'T BELIEVE THIS IS FOR THEM

"Drop the idea that you are Atlas carrying the world on your shoulders. The world would go on even without you. Don't take yourself so seriously."

Norman Vincent Peale (1898-1993) Protestant preacher/author

There's an excellent chance you are not the only person who can get things done if you think you are the only person who can get things done.

TEACH, DON'T TELL

"The true teacher defends his pupils against his own personal influence."

Amos Bronson Alcott (1799-1888) American educator

Important in all forms of education, business included.

Managers (should also) be teachers.

The best ones temper their own personal beliefs, providing their direct reports the best possible information so they can reach the best possible decisions.

A KING IS IT?

"The courts of kings are full of people, but empty of friends."

Seneca (4 BC-65) Roman philosopher/playwright

If as manager you think yourself a king, you might consider the possibility of your "subjects" seeing things differently.

MY WAY OR . . .

"Extreme positions are not succeeded by moderate ones, but by contrary extreme positions."

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) German-Swiss philosopher/writer

You've taken an extreme position at work, one you'll either totally win or lose.

Doing so you leave little choice to those not willing to accept your views.

Are you ready to completely lose or might some compromise serve you, and the other side, better?

LEAST OF ALL BECAUSE I SAID SO

"Power is not revealed by striking hard or often, but by striking true."

Honore de Balzac (1799-1850) French novelist

"Striking true"; a euphemism for doing and saying what is right.

Making sure you are before you speak or act is the optimum expression of management power.

TOO MUCH OF EITHER IS A BAD THING

"The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."

Winston Churchill (1874-1965) British politician

We have the choice to be one or the other although we don't always see our options as choices.

They are.

Choose consciously.

I UNDERSTAND THAT

"Beware of the man who knows the answer before he understands the question."

Unknown source

And who among us has not been guilty of this?

You can't understand the question if you don't at least accept the possibility that you don't understand the question.

UNDERSTANDING DIGNITY

"Our dignity is not in what we do, but what we understand."

George Santayana (1863-1952) American philosopher/poet

There is a very important, very subtle distinction between these two.

Think about how much you do versus how much you understand. 

If you are like most there is quite a bit more of the former, much less of the latter.

Ideally they would be equal.

I HOPE THIS PLEASES YOU

"Please all, and you will please none."

Aesop (620 BC-560 BC) Greek fabulist

And since it is rarely, if ever, possible to please all, even the effort will often please none.

Just attempt to do what is right and leave concern for who that pleases to others.

COMPANY CODE OF CONDUCT STATEMENTS NOTWITHSTANDING . . .

"The pit of a theatre is the one place where the tears of virtuous and wicked men alike are mingled."

Denis Diderot (1713-1784) French philosopher

But not the only place.

This is potentially just as true in business.

Probably more so.

THE KIND BUSINESS

"To cultivate kindness is a valuable part of the business of life."

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) British author

I think you could drop the second "of" and it would apply equally well.

Agree?

THE YIN AND YANG OF RIGHT AND WRONG

"Nowadays those are rewarded who make right appear wrong."

Terence (195/185 BC-159 BC) Playwright of the Roman Republic

Is today any different?

Maybe only in that those who make wrong appear right are rewarded even more.

IN SEARCH OF TRANQUILITY

"The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good. Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom."

James Allen (1864-1912) British-born American essayist

Is tranquility a goal and if so is it achievable?

Thomas Jefferson leaves to question what he thinks.

"Tranquility is the old man's milk."

17th century British philosopher Thomas Hobbes does not mince words:

"There is no such thing as perpetual tranquillity of mind while we live here; because life itself is but motion, and can never be without desire, nor without fear, no more than without sense."

I see it being some of all of this while hoping it is not all of some of this.

HOW OLD ARE YOU?

"I am not young enough to know everything."

Oscar Wilde

19th century Irish poet/dramatist

How old do you have to be before you learn how true this is?

THE IMPORTANCE OF SELF-CONTROL

"He who cannot obey himself will be commanded. That is the nature of living creatures."

Friedrich Nietzsche

19th century German-Swiss philosopher/writer

You will be commanded by someone.

Wouldn't it be best for that person in charge of you to be you?

NAH, NAH, NA, NAH, NAH; I CAN'T HEAR YOU

"There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge."

Bertrand Russell

19th/20th century British logician and philosopher

Much of my career involved selling data to companies, including some whose management declined to even learn what that data was about.

I recall one in particular who said, " I don't need to know; we know all we need to know." 

To which I replied, "Yes I know."

EMPLOYEES: THE COMPANY IMAGE

"Choose your wife as you wish your children to be."

Proverb

A slight but critical suggested edit, "Choose your wife or husband as you wish your children to be."

In business, choose your employees as you wish your company to be known.

There is no company beyond its employees.

OF THIS I AM ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN

"The most learned are often the most narrow minded."

William Hazlitt

Late 18th/early 19th century British essayist

Certainly so the more we view our "knowledge" as irrefutable.

Be proud of what you know but do all you can to make sure you really do know it.

And even then, when you are certain, don't always attempt to force it on others.