Quotes About Strategy

If you were to ask me which of the Big Five is the most important number, I'd tell you to go to ROIC first. If a business doesn't have a healthy ROIC—above 10 percent per year on average for the last ten years—move on to another business.

The rules of soccer are very simple, basically it is this: if it moves, kick it. If it doesn't move, kick it until it does.

Stack 'em like cordwood. Victory was a high body-count, defeat a low kill-ratio, war a matter of arithmetic.

Midway through the jury selection, juror expert Jo 'Ellan Dimitrius was brought in to help the defense. She had a long, thin face, intense dark eyes, and bouffant platinum hair. Richard often conferred with her.

Clark said it was stupid not to put his father on the stand. Daniel told Richard he had spoken to his mother and she had cried and begged him to convince her youngest-born to put up a defense. That seemed to strike a chord somewhere deep inside of Richard. He said he would like to talk with Dr. Jo 'Ellan Dimitrius and ask how the jury might react if he didn't put up a defense, didn't take the stand and deny the charges.

The right time and place were essential for successful murder. He'd later reveal: To be a good killer you have to plan things out carefully. You've got to be prepared in every way when the moment comes to strike; you cannot hesitate.

There are some occasions in which a man must tell half his secret, in order to conceal the rest

We are all forecasters. When we think about changing jobs, getting married, buying a home, making an investment, launching a product, or retiring, we decide based on how we expect the future will unfold.

Foresight isn't a mysterious gift bestowed at birth. It is the product of particular ways of thinking, of gathering information, of updating beliefs.

An imperfect decision made in time was better than a perfect decision made too late. Ref. German mission command.

Plans are merely a platform for change. Israeli Defense Forces.

You can achieve incredible progress if you set a clear goal and find a measure that will drive progress toward that goal….This may seem basic, but it is amazing how often it is not done and how hard it is to get right.

As he explained to his officers and men, the war against Persia could not be finished until the shah, as the Persians called their king, was mat, or finished. The endgame had to be shah mat, a Persian phrase that would evolve in time into checkmate.

There are two things that create, protect, and increase a sovereign's rule—soldiers and money—both being dependent on each other. Armies need money and money is acquired by the strength of arms. If you lose one, you lose the other. Caesar

Start with an honest analysis of why you are in opposition, not in government.

Alfred the Great] possessed the supreme military virtue of willingness to be taught by the enemy.

Not since murder became the continuation of politics by other means.

four P's: product, price, place, and promotion.

First build the cities, then build the states, and then hope that the nation will prosper.

Marketing is a race without a finishing line

The art of marketing is largely the art of brand building. When something is not a brand, it will be probably be viewed as a commodity.

No company in its right mind tries to sell to everyone.

The value decade is upon us. If you can't sell a top-quality product at the world's lowest price, you're going to be out of the game . . . the best way to hold your customers is to constantly figure out how to give them more for less.—Jack Welch, Chairman, General Electric

I felt strongly that marketing managers, in order to make better marketing decisions, needed to analyze markets and competition in systems terms, explicating the forces at work and their various interdependencies.