People who are making decisions about the future often don't have access to some of the best ideas in the company, which may be at the periphery or at lower levels. Rosabeth Moss Kanter More Quotes by Rosabeth Moss Kanter More Quotes From Rosabeth Moss Kanter During the Boom Years, it was so easy to lose sight of basic values. For example, there was lots of nonsense said and written about the so-called "New Economy." Some people said all economic laws have been overturned! Then all the problems developed. Corporations were heavily fined for illegalities. Many of their senior-level executives were indicted, convicted, and sent to prison. Rosabeth Moss Kanter prison problem people The behavior of people and the culture of an organization are very different in winning streaks and losing streaks. But what both have in common is their momentum - once winners' or losers' habits and culture take hold, they tend to perpetuate themselves. Rosabeth Moss Kanter different winning people Time is a function of impact. The longer a book of mine has been in print, the greater its impact seems to be as people absorb and digest my ideas. I am especially proud of The Change Master: Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the American Corporation, first published in 1983, because it raised questions and addressed issues at a time when so many great changes were occurring in our society, indeed throughout the world. Rosabeth Moss Kanter innovation book people Innovation is an outgrowth of initiative, and initiative - taking positive actions in a belief that your actions can make a difference - is a big part of confidence. Rosabeth Moss Kanter making-a-difference innovation belief John Akers once said that changing IBM's culture was more difficult than getting elephants to dance. Of course it's really difficult, as Lou Gerstner also found out years later. The title of his own book is Who Says Elephants Can't Dance? He and his top executives were change masters at IBM. All organizations, especially the larger ones, will always need change masters. Dissatisfaction with the status quo and efforts to improve it should be encouraged rather than discouraged. Regrettably, that is often not the case. Rosabeth Moss Kanter effort culture book The boomers' biggest impact will be on eliminating the term 'retirement' and inventing a new stage of life... the new career arc. Rosabeth Moss Kanter impact careers retirement Power is America's last dirty word. It is easier to talk about money - and much easier to talk about sex - than it is to talk about power. Rosabeth Moss Kanter power sex dirty The more closed the circle, the more difficult it is for 'outsiders' to break in. Their very difficulty in entering may be taken as a sign of incompetence, a sign that the insiders were right to close their ranks. Rosabeth Moss Kanter entering circles taken The goal of winning is not losing two times in a row. Rosabeth Moss Kanter goal winning two No" is always an easier stand than "Yes. Rosabeth Moss Kanter easier One of the symptoms of a losing streak is a turnover of top executives. It's a revolving door. Rosabeth Moss Kanter symptoms losing doors Thinkers, makers and traders are the DNA of the world class company Rosabeth Moss Kanter dna class world The most distinguished advocate and the most distinguished critic of modern captialism were in agreement on one essential point: the job makes the person. Adam Smith and Karl Marx both recognized the extent to which people's attitudes and behaviors take shape out of the experiences they have in their work. Rosabeth Moss Kanter agreement attitude jobs The Martha Stewart trial makes clear how far women have risen in the business world. America can be proud of our equal-opportunity prosecution and conviction. Rosabeth Moss Kanter trials opportunity america Companies used to be able to function with autocratic bosses. We don't live in that world anymore. Rosabeth Moss Kanter boss able world Money should never be separated from values. Detached from values it may indeed be the root of all evil. Linked effectively to social purpose it can be the root of opportunity. Rosabeth Moss Kanter roots evil opportunity A great idea is not enough. Rosabeth Moss Kanter great-idea enough ideas The way innovating companies are designed leaves ambiguities, overlaps, decision conflicts or decision vacuums in some parts of the organisation. People rail at this, curse it-and invent innovative ways to overcome it. Rosabeth Moss Kanter decision business people After years of telling corporate citizens to 'trust the system,' many companies must relearn instead to trust their people - and encourage their people to use neglected creative capacities in order to tap the most potent economic stimulus of all: idea power. Rosabeth Moss Kanter order years ideas Even the new feminist research on sex-role socialization and sex differences has sometimes had the unfortunate consequence of creating a new set of stereotypes about what women feel and how women behave. Despite the large amount of overlap between the sexes in most research, the tendency to label and polarize and thus to exaggerate differences remains in much reporting of data, which may, for example, report the mean scores of male and female populations but not the degree of overlap. Rosabeth Moss Kanter data mean sex