A conference is a gathering of important people who singly can do nothing, but together can decide that nothing can be done.

We should not measure our success in ministry by counting, but we are human and we count. What we count determines how we minster!

Think effectiveness with people and efficiency with things.

There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.

The more you say, the less people remember. The fewer the words, the greater the profit.

Furious activity is no substitute for understanding.

A penny saved may be a penny earned, but it's a waste of a deposit slip and it really pisses off the bank tellers.

"I never work better than when I'm inspired by anger: I can write, pray, and preach well. My whole temperament is quickened, my understanding sharpened, and all mundane vexations and temptations depart."

A Japanese company and an American company decided to have a canoe race on the Missouri river. Both teams practiced long and hard to reach their peak performance before the race. On the big day the Japanese won by a mile. Afterwards, the American team became very discouraged and morally depressed. The American management decided that the reason for the crushing defeat had to be found. A "Measurement Team," made up of senior management was formed. They would investigate and recommend appropriate action. Their conclusion was that the Japanese had 8 people rowing and 1 person steering, while the Americans had 1 person rowing and 8 people steering. So American management hired a consulting company and paid them incredible amounts of money. They advised that too many people were steering the boat and not enough people were rowing. To prevent losing to the Japanese again next year, the rowing team's management structure was totally reorganized to 4 steering supervisors, 3 area steering superintendents and 1 assistant superintendent steering manager. They also implemented a new performance system that would give the 1 person rowing the boat greater incentive to work harder. It was called the "Rowing Team Quality First Program," with meetings, dinners and free pens for the rower: "We must give the rower empowerment and enrichments through this quality program." The next year the Japanese won by 2 miles. Humiliated, the American management laid off the rower for poor performance, halted development of a new canoe, sold the paddles, and canceled all capital investments for new equipment. Then they gave a High Performance Award to the steering managers and distributed the money saved as bonuses to the senior executives.

In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice; In practice, there is.

When I was seven or eight, we lived next to a boarded-up school. We took turns rotating the merry-go-round in the playground for our friends. They'd climb on and grab the rails, and we'd run alongside as fast as we could, pushing. The bigger kids relished the thrill of hanging out beyond the platform to experience maximum Gs. The smaller ones were taught to quit crying by slowly working toward the center pole. The closer you got, the more stability you enjoyed. This is an important principle. The faster your life goes, the more focused you must be on your center if you're to survive and thrive. And what or who is the center of your life? It's not your family or career; it shouldn't be your golf game or favorite football team. It's God. We often forget or neglect that. Due to the exhilaration of our ride or sheer panic from its velocity, we hang on for dear life but never catch our breath. It's time we realign our activities around the security of that perfect center, drawing closer to him.

Hell, there are no rules here – we’re trying to accomplish something.

There is not much risk that an executive will cut back too much. We usually tend to overrate rather than underrate our importance and to conclude that far too many things can be done only by ourselves. Even very effective executives still do a great many unnecessary, unproductive things. But the best proof that the danger of overpruning is a bugaboo is the extraordinary effectiveness so often attained by severely ill or severely handicapped people. A good example was Harry Hopkins, President Roosevelt’s confidential adviser in World War II. A dying, indeed almost a dead man for whom every step was a torment, he could only work a few hours every other day or so. This forced him to cut out everything but truly vital matters. He did not lose effectiveness thereby; on the contrary, he became, as Churchill called him once, ‘Lord Heart of the Matter’ and accomplished more than anyone else in wartime Washington." (I cannot count the number of times that illustration has come into my mind at critical moments. I determined to ruthlessly cut away whatever was not crucial to the task, asking myself repeatedly, "If I had two hours per day or ten hours per week to this job, what specific things would I do and what would I not do? As Drucker indicates in many books, no matter how much wise pruning one does, the information worker will always have much more to do than he can possibly get to. as much as possible must be delegated to others.)

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

People don’t ever seem to realize that doing what’s right is no guarantee against misfortune. – William McFee, 1881-1996

We are going to continue having these meetings, everyday, until I find out why no work is getting done.

A committee of one gets things done.

It's so funny when I hear people being so protective of ideas. (People who want me to sign an nda to tell me the simplest idea.) To me, ideas are worth nothing unless executed. They are just a multiplier. Execution is worth millions. Explanation: * Awful idea = -1 * Weak idea = 1 * So-so idea = 5 * Good idea = 10 * Great idea = 15 * Brilliant idea = 20 * No execution = $1 * Weak execution = $1000 * So-so execution = $10,000 * Good execution = $100,000 * Great execution = $1,000,000 * Brilliant execution = $10,000,000 To make a business, you need to multiply the two. The most brilliant idea, with no execution, is worth $20. The most brilliant idea takes great execution to be worth $20,000,000. That's why I don't want to hear people's ideas. I'm not interested until I see their execution.