Two things about Sam Walton distinguish him from almost everyone else I know. First, he gets up every day bound and determined to improve something. Second, he is less afraid of being wrong than anyone I've ever known. And once he sees he's wrong, he just shakes it off and heads in another direction.
Sam Walton, Made in America by Sam Walton & John Huey. Bantam Books. 1992. p. 39
Now, when it comes to Wal-Mart, there's no two ways about it: I'm cheap. I think it's a real statement that Wal-Mart never bought a jet until after we were approaching $40 billion in sales and expanded as far away as California and Maine, and even then they had to practically tie me up and hold me down to do it. On the road, we sleep two to a room, although as I've gotten older I have finally started staying in my own room. We stay in Holiday Inns and Ramada Inns and Days Inns, and we eat a lot at family restaurants - when we have time to eat. A lot of what goes on these days with high-flying companies and these overpaid CEO's who're really just looting from the top and aren't watching out for anybody but themselves really upsets me. It's one of the main things wrong with American business today.
Sam Walton
Sam Walton, Made in America by Sam Walton & John Huey. Bantam Books. 1992. p. 9
Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.
War as I Knew It by General George S. Patton Jr. Houghton Mifflin. 1975. p.357. As found in 2022 Great Quotes From Great Leaders Boxed Calendar: 365 Inspirational Quotes From Leaders Who Shaped the World.
LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner sees "fewer things done better" as the most powerful mechanism for leadership. When he took the reins of the company he could easily have adopted the standard operating procedure of most Silicon Valley start-ups and tried to pursue everything. Instead, he said no to really good opportunities in order to pursue only the very best ones. He uses the acronym FCS (a.k.a. FOCUS) to teach his philosophy to his employees. The letters stand for "Fewer things done better," "Communicating the right information to the right people at the right time," and "Speed and quality of decision making." Indeed, this is what it means to lead essentially.
Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown. Crown/Archetype. 2020. p.239.
My experience has taught me this about how people and organizations improve: the best place to look is for small changes we could make in the things we do often. There is power in steadiness and repetition.
"The Lord Will Multiply the Harvest," Teaching Seminary. 6 February 1998. As found in Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown. Crown/Archetype. 2020. p.194, 195.
