Loud Thinking

Archive for June, 2014

Big Company Goals Need to Be Concrete and Specific

Most companies have a mission or vision statement, but these are typically abstract statements that paint a pleasant picture of a possible future. You need an aspiration that gives everyone in your company a clearly defined way to win, so it needs to explain two things: How you will win with customers, and against the competition. Craft an aspiration that is concrete and specific. Spell out what you mean when you say “best” or “world leader.” Your aspiration shouldn’t be so broad that it could apply to any company in your industry – personalize it to inspire and motivate your employees. It should be about winning in a specific way (e.g. highest customer satisfaction in your industry), rather than in general (e.g. be the best brand). Set a high bar. Without an ambitious aspiration, you’ll never win, and someone else will.

Adapted by HBR from the Playing to Win Strategy Toolkit.

I was called a terrorist yesterday, but when I came out of jail, many people embraced me, including my enemies, and that is what I normally tell other people who say those who are struggling for liberation in their country are terrorists.

I tell them that I was also a terrorist yesterday, but, today, I am admired by the very people who said I was one.

~Nelson Mandela

We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians; without the resolution of conflicts in East Timor, the Sudan and other parts of the world.

~Nelson Mandela

I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.

~Nelson Mandela

Our children are our greatest treasure. They are our future. Those who abuse them tear at the fabric of our society and weaken our nation.

~Nelson Mandela

No one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails.
A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens but its lowest ones.

~Nelson Mandela

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

~Nelson Mandela

Man’s goodness is a flame that can be hidden but never extinguished.

~Nelson Mandela

It always seems impossible until its done.

~Nelson Mandela

If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart

~Nelson Mandela