 Change before you have to. |
| My main job was developing talent. I was a gardener providing water and other nourishment to our top 750 people. Of course, I had to pull out some weeds, too. |
| If GE's strategy of investment in China is wrong, it represents a loss of a billion dollars, perhaps a couple of billion dollars. If it is right, it is the future of this company for the next century. |
| If you pick the right people and give them the opportunity to spread their wings and put compensation as a carrier behind it you almost don't have to manage them. |
| The essence of competitiveness is liberated when we make people believe that what they think and do is important - and then get out of their way while they do it. |
| An organization's ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage. |
| We bring together the best ideas - turning the meetings of our top managers into intellectual orgies. |
| The team with the best players wins. |
| Giving people self-confidence is by far the most important thing that I can do. Because then they will act. |
| The 1980s will seem like a walk in the park when compared to new global challenges, where annual productivity increases of 6% may not be enough. A combination of software, brains, and running harder will be needed to bring that percentage up to 8% or 9%. |
| Control your own destiny or someone else will. |
| We've only been wealthy in this country for 70 years. Who said we ought to have all this? Is it ordained? |
| I was afraid of the internet... because I couldn't type. |
| Be candid with everyone. |
| Face reality as it is, not as it was or as you wish it to be. |
| The Internet is the Viagra of big business. |
| Willingness to change is a strength, even if it means plunging part of the company into total confusion for a while. |
| If you don't have a competitive advantage, don't compete. |
| Strong managers who make tough decisions to cut jobs provide the only true job security in today's world. Weak managers are the problem. Weak managers destroy jobs. |
| Globalization has changed us into a company that searches the world, not just to sell or to source, but to find intellectual capital - the world's best talents and greatest ideas. |
