Verne Harnish > Quotes

“There are no straight lines in nature or business.”
― Verne Harnish, Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't

“If you want to teach people a new way of thinking, don’t bother trying to teach them. Instead, give them a tool, the use of which will lead to new ways of thinking.”
― Verne Harnish, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits: What You Must Do to Increase the Value of Your Growing Firm

“Those who can read, and don't, are only marginally better off than those who can't.”
― Verne Harnish

“If the Core Values are the soul of the organization, the core Purpose (some call it “mission”) gives it heart.”
― Verne Harnish, Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't

“Letting go and trusting others to do things well is one of the more challenging aspects of being a leader of a growing organization.”
― Verne Harnish, Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't

“People join companies. They leave managers.”
― Verne Harnish, Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't

“I’m tired of sailing my little boat
Far inside of the harbor bar;
I want to be out where the big ships float —
Out on the deep where the Great Ones are! …
And should my frail craft prove too slight
For storms that sweep those wide seas o’er,
Better go down in the stirring fight
Than drowse to death by the sheltered shore! — Daisy Rinehart”
― Verne Harnish, Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't

“To paraphrase Steve Jobs, “I’m always amazed how overnight successes take a helluva long time.”
― Verne Harnish, Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't

“Call it Talent Development, Human Relations, People Support, or Head of People Experiences — whatever term fits your culture — choose to call this function anything but Human Resources.”
― Verne Harnish, Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't

“Goals without routines are wishes; routines without goals are aimless. The most successful business leaders have a clear vision and the disciplines (routines) to make it a reality.”
― Verne Harnish, Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't

“The right Brand Promise isn’t always obvious. Naomi Simson — founder of one of the fastest-growing companies in Australia, RedBalloon — was sure she knew what to promise customers who want to give experiences such as hot air balloon rides as gifts, rather than flowers and chocolates. Her promises included an easy-to-use website for choosing one of over 2,000 experiences; recognizable packaging and branding (think Tiffany blue, only in red); and onsite support. It wasn’t until a friend and client mentioned that she was using the website as a source of ideas — but buying the experiences directly from the vendors — that Simson had an “Aha!” moment. She realized that other customers might be doing the same thing, assuming that RedBalloon must be marking up the price of the experiences to cover the costs of the website, packaging, and onsite support. To grow the business, she promised customers they would pay no more for the experiences they bought through RedBalloon than for those purchased directly from the suppliers; otherwise, customers would get 100% of their fee refunded. The company calls this promise, which is technically a pricing guarantee, a “100% Pleasure Guarantee,” to fit its brand.”
― Verne Harnish, Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't

“Your contribution to the community of “gazelles” is greatly appreciated.”
― Verne Harnish, Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't

“Then, in the end, the leader makes the call. It’s conflict and debate leading to an executive decision. No major decision we’ve studied was ever taken at a point of unanimous agreement. There was always some disagreement in the air. Our research showed that before a major decision, you would see significant debate. But after the decision, people would unify behind that decision to make it successful. Again, and I can’t stress this too much, it all begins with having the right people—those who can debate in search of the best answers but who can then set aside their disagreements and work together for the success of the enterprise.”
― Verne Harnish, The Greatest Business Decisions of All Time: How Apple, Ford, IBM, Zappos, and others made radical choices that changed the course of business.

“This is a little story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.”
― Verne Harnish, Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't

“One-Page Strategic Plan (OPSP): If you want everyone on the same page, then you need this page first. The OPSP is our best-known and most widely used tool. It’s designed to drive alignment, accountability, and focus.”
― Verne Harnish, Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't

“In retaining employees and keeping them engaged, we’ll cover the five activities of great (vs. good) managers: • Help people play to their strengths. • Don’t demotivate; dehassle. • Set clear expectations and give employees a clear line of sight. • Give recognition and show appreciation. • Hire fewer people, but pay them more (frontline employees, not top leaders!).”
― Verne Harnish, Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't

“The #1 demotivator for talented people is having to put up with bozos, as Steve Jobs would call them. Nothing is more frustrating for A Players than having to work with B and C Players who slow them down and suck their energy. In that sense, “The best thing you can do for employees — a perk better than foosball or free sushi — is hire only ‘A’ players to work alongside them. Excellent colleagues trump everything else,”
― Verne Harnish, Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't

“In the end, what matters most in life are the depth of your relationships with friends and family; and the sheer number of people you’ve helped along the way. These represent true measures of wealth. Financial wealth, then, is seen as a resource for fostering your relationships.”
― Verne Harnish, Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't

“Anytime somebody goes two days without reporting a constraint, you can bet there’s a bigger problem lurking. Busy, productive people who are doing anything of consequence get stuck pretty regularly. The only people who don’t get stuck are those who aren’t doing anything or are so stuck that don’t know it!! So, challenge the team member who reports, “Everything is fine!”
― Verne Harnish, Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't

“is”
― Verne Harnish, Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't

“1. Senior leaders need to be in the market 80% of the week, either figuratively or literally. 2. This routine must start on day one and continue through half a trillion in revenue!”
― Verne Harnish, Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't

“Sydney-based software firm Atlassian sends each new employee, whatever his or her position, to a resort spa the weekend before the start date as a way to celebrate the new job.”
― Verne Harnish, Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't

“People are not resources that you consume.”
― Verne Harnish, Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't

“Managing Up: How to Forge an Effective Relationship With Those Above You, by Rosanne Badowski. She is Jack Welch’s longstanding executive assistant and has written a book that we highly recommend all executive assistants read.”
― Verne Harnish, Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't

“Routine sets you free”
― Verne Harnish, Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't

“The best leaders have the right questions, but turn to their employees, customers, advisors, and the crowd to mine the answers. Every business is more valuable to the degree that it does not depend on its top leader.”
― Verne Harnish, Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't

“If more than one person is accountable, then no one is accountable.”
― Verne Harnish, Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't

“Leaders have to balance two often competing demands on the business — People and Process. This”
― Verne Harnish, Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't

“If your competitive advantage depends on your people creating something valuable and distinctive, then your workforce can’t be normal.”
― Verne Harnish, Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't

“How Fast Can Your Company Afford to Grow?”
― Verne Harnish, Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't