Knowledge is only useful if you do something with it. Jeffrey Pfeffer More Quotes by Jeffrey Pfeffer More Quotes From Jeffrey Pfeffer Part of strategy is figuring out what you're good at, figuring out what you're not good at, and then getting yourself in position to succeed by doing mostly what you have a competitive advantage doing. Jeffrey Pfeffer strategy succeed Take care of your customers, and you will have a successful business. Don't, and you won't. The airlines need to figure this out - soon. Jeffrey Pfeffer airline care successful Today, if the CEO thinks it's a good idea, it's done everywhere; if the CEO thinks it's a bad idea, it's done nowhere. We ought to be more agnostic and open to learning things that we didn't expect - and the only way to do that is to try things and be open-minded about how well they are working. And third, evidence-based management involves reading and learning - just like doctors do - and to do so not just in school but afterward, as well. Jeffrey Pfeffer reading school thinking We need economic policies in the U.S. that produce jobs, first of all, but good jobs, second of all. Believe it or not, Germany, a country characterized by high wages, strong unions, a social safety net, and so forth is the second largest exporter (after China) in the world. The idea that the only way to succeed is by eliminating vacations, sick days, worker protections, and so forth is simply belied by the competitiveness rankings produced by the Economist magazine's intelligence unit and by the World Economic Forum. Jeffrey Pfeffer strong believe country To paraphrase the late management thinker and writer, Peter Drucker, thinking is hard work, which is why so few people (including actually senior managers) do it. Once there is some "conventional," seemingly-reasonable story, people just accept it and don't ask, "is this actually true? Is it consistent with the data?" And this extends to the highest reaches of organizational life. Jeffrey Pfeffer senior hard-work thinking We now live in an era of the permanent campaign - all marketing and messaging all the time. We clearly live in an era where the "truth" doesn't matter much - people tell lies about things ranging from the likelihood of "death panels" to the effects of the stimulus on saving this economy from a true calamity. In such a context, Obama himself needs to be "selling" all the time, as does his team, and also be more forceful in advocating their views. He needs to project that he and his ideas will win. And I don't think he has yet done that. Jeffrey Pfeffer team winning lying I would give Obama a "C." He gets an "A" for understanding this country's profound problems in education, health care, infrastructure, and economic competitiveness, and for surrounding himself with extremely skilled and knowledgeable people who know what to do. He probably gets an "F," ironically, in his ability to sell these ideas to the American public and to be angry enough, conniving enough, and frankly mean enough to get them implemented and understood. Jeffrey Pfeffer giving mean people Nothing comes without trade-offs. Do you want to spend time with people who like, or with people who might be useful to you? Do you really want to put in the long hours and constant attention required to be successful in your quest for power? Do you really want to be under the microscope on a daily basis, with people commenting on the car you drive, where you live, where you go on vacation, and so forth? There is no way to avoid the price of power. It's up to you to decide if it is worth it, and to change course when it isn't. Jeffrey Pfeffer vacation successful long You're more likely to make mistakes when you're working when you're exhausted, and you're certainly less likely to be creative or productive, it's much easier to prevent a mistake than to try to find a mistake and fix it. Jeffrey Pfeffer health-news When you're exhausted, you're not very efficient. It's one of the very reasons why, in things where people have to be alert in order to do their jobs, like truck driving and airline pilots, we for years limited work hours. Jeffrey Pfeffer health-news
