Gerald A. Michaelson > Quotes

“If your plan is not in writing, you do not have a plan at all. Instead, you have only a dream, a vision, or perhaps even a nightmare. The simple written plan works best.”
― Gerald A. Michaelson, Sun Tzu - The Art of War for Managers: 50 Strategic Rules Updated for Today's Business

“Do not limit your planning horizon to what can be accomplished with existing tools. If the only tool you have is a hammer, everything will look like a nail.”
― Gerald A. Michaelson, Sun Tzu - The Art of War for Managers: 50 Strategic Rules Updated for Today's Business

“The idea of using extraordinary force does not mean more of the same effort. Extraordinary action results from out-of-the-box thinking.”
― Gerald A. Michaelson, Sun Tzu - The Art of War for Managers: 50 Strategic Rules Updated for Today's Business

“The cry from every business failure is, “We ran out of money,” but the real problem was probably one or more of the following: not enough managerial talent or operational skill, wrong products or services, or one of myriad other inadequate resources required to make the organization successful.”
― Gerald A. Michaelson, Sun Tzu - The Art of War for Managers: 50 Strategic Rules Updated for Today's Business

“Enterprise Rent-A-Car found a different point of entry into the same business. Originally a leasing company, it began an entry into rental cars when an enterprising manager at one of its offices began picking up customers for the start of their lease. No one else did that, and that became Enterprise’s point of entry.”
― Gerald A. Michaelson, Sun Tzu - The Art of War for Managers: 50 Strategic Rules Updated for Today's Business

“At Ogilvy & Mather, founder David Mather established the practice of sending each new branch head a nested set of wooden dolls—each doll opens to reveal a smaller replica of the doll. Inside the smallest is a message: “If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs; but if each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, Ogilvy & Mather will become a company of giants.”1”
― Gerald A. Michaelson, Sun Tzu - The Art of War for Managers: 50 Strategic Rules Updated for Today's Business