Thomas J. Watson Quotes

Thomas J. Watson says think hard and quit mediocrity, urging excellence.

27 quotes

1. All the problems of the world could be settled easily if men were only willing to think. The trouble is that men very often resort to all sorts of devices in order not to think, because thinking is such hard work.

2. Design must reflect the practical and aesthetic in business but above all... good design must primarily serve people.

3. Don't make friends who are comfortable to be with. Make friends who will force you to lever yourself up.

4. Every time we've moved ahead in IBM, it was because someone was willing to take a chance, put his head on the block, and try something new.

5. Good design is good business.

6. Great design will not sell an inferior product, but it will enable a great product to achieve its maximum potential.

7. I am not a very intelligent person, but I am smart in spots, and I stick to those spots.

8. If you aren't playing well, the game isn't as much fun. When that happens I tell myself just to go out and play as I did when I was a kid.

9. If you stand up and be counted, from time to time you may get yourself knocked down. But remember this: A man flattened by an opponent can get up again. A man flattened by conformity stays down for good.

10. If you want to achieve excellence, you can get there today. As of this second, quit doing less-than-excellent work.

11. Nothing so conclusively proves a man's ability to lead others as what he does from day to day to lead himself.

12. Once an organization loses its spirit of pioneering and rests on its early work, its progress stops.

13. Really big people are, above everything else, courteous, considerate and generous - not just to some people in some circumstances - but to everyone all the time.

14. If you want to succeed, double your failure rate.

15. I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.

16. You don't hear things that are bad about your company unless you ask. It is easy to hear good tidings, but you have to scratch to get the bad news.

17. It was courage, faith, endurance and a dogged determination to surmount all obstacles that built this bridge.

18. Treat each case as an individual case, and give every man an opportunity to earn just as much money as he is capable of earning.

19. It is a common mistake to think of failure as the enemy of success. Failure is a teacher-a harsh one, but the best. Pull your failures to pieces looking for the reason. Put your failure to work for you.

20. When asked how to achieve success more rapidly, came the quick reply, 'Double your failure rate'.

21. The best way to supervise your men is from their reports that they make out.

22. Wisdom is the power to put our time and our knowledge to the proper use.

23. Follow the path of the unsafe, independent thinker. Expose your ideas to the danger of controversy. Speak your mind and fear less the label of 'crackpot' than the stigma of conformity.

24. Success is on the far side of failure.

25. A manager is an assistant to his men.

26. Failure is a teacher; a harsh one, but the best.

27. The toughest thing about the power of trust is that it's very difficult to build and very easy to destroy. The essence of trust building is to emphasize the similarities between you and the customer.