Inventories can be managed, but people must be led.
Ross PerotRead
Business is not just doing deals; business is having great products, doing great engineering, and providing tremendous service to customers. Finally, business is a cobweb of human relationships.
Interpretation
Business encompasses much more than transactions; it involves quality products, exceptional service, and nurturing relationships.
In this quote, Ross Perot emphasizes that successful business is rooted not only in the act of making deals but also in creating high-quality products and delivering exceptional service. He highlights the importance of human connections, suggesting that relationships are the underlying framework that supports and sustains a successful enterprise.
In practice
In a business meeting about customer service improvements, this quote could inspire the team.
Inventories can be managed, but people must be led.
Never ask anyone to do what you haven't done before and wouldn't do again. That's a pretty fundamental rule in leadership... treat them like you treat yourself. Things you don't like, they don't like.
Don't run your life by what's legal or illegal. Run your life based on what's right or wrong.
Punishing honest mistakes stifles creativity. I want people moving and shaking the earth and they're going to make mistakes.
Something in human nature causes us to start slacking off at our moment of greatest accomplishment. As you become successful, you will need a great deal of self-discipline not to lose your sense of balance, humility and commitment.
The reality is the Lean Startup method is not about cost, it is about speed. Lean startups waste less money, because they use a disciplined approach to testing new products and ideas.
There is one and only one social responsibility of business - to use it resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud.
Values can set a company apart from the competition by clarifying its identity and serving as a rallying point for employees. But coming up with strong values - and sticking to them - requires real guts.
Accounting is the language of business.
China is very entrepreneurial but has no rule of law. Europe has rule of law but isn't entrepreneurial. Combine rule of law, entrepreneurialism and a generally pro-business policy, and you have Apple.
Building a mission and building a business go hand in hand. The primary thing that excites me is the mission. But we have always had a healthy understanding that we need to do both.
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