Never express yourself more clearly than you are able to think.
--Niels Bohr
When I launched the 400 Year Project (a program to demonstrate ways to make 400 years of normal improvements in only 20 years to be completed by 2015), I had no idea how to do the task.
But I knew that I needed focus. Having to report of my progress was the device I chose . . . and it worked!
The...
In planning their businesses and careers, many people make the mistake of believing that the future will be almost exactly like the past. Applying 20-20 hindsight, they carefully prepare to avoid repeating mistakes that others have made.
Unfortunately, optimizing a solution to deal with past conditions often leaves them totally vulnerable when new conditions emerge.
Here\'s an example of...
Put it before them briefly so they will read it, clearly so they will appreciate it, picturesquely so they will remember it and above all accurately so they will be guided by its light.
--Joseph Pulitzer
When I started the 400 Year Project (to demonstrate how 400 years worth of normal improvements could be accomplished in only 20 years), I began sharing our message on the Internet and...
A new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn; it can be stabbed to death by a joke or worried to death by a frown on the right person\'s brow.
--Charles Browder
When I started the 400 Year Project (to demonstrate and encourage ways of accomplishing 20 times more with the same time, money, and effort) I was intrigued by finding a way to capture public imagination. With...
The new electronic interdependence recreates the world
in the image of a global village.
--Marshall McLuhan
When I started the 400 Year Project in 1995, I sensed that electronic communications about the project\'s goals would be important. But I was clueless about what to do.
The youngest people at Mitchell and Company assured me that we had to have a Web site for the project. They...
The best-laid plans o\' mice an\' men gang aft a-gley.
--Robert Burns
Let me share with you how I came to realize the importance of symbolizing goals and programs. It all started when I launched the 400 Year Project (to make improvements 20 times faster than ever before) in September 1995. I held an initial meeting to explain the project and to seek volunteers. That had worked. Now I had...
All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence,
and then success is sure.
--Mark Twain
When I started the 400 Year Project (a program to identify ways that the rate of improvement could be accelerated by 20 times), I decided to announce the project before a gathering of my most important clients and the business leaders I most admired. At the time, I was hoping to learn from their...
Art is lone, life short;
judgment difficult, opportunity transient.
--Goethe (adapting the words of Hippocrates)
In September 1995, I made the most important (and perhaps the only important) speech of my career when I introduced the 400 Year Project (a program to help everyone learn how to accomplish 20 times as much with the same time, money, and effort). Since I didn\'t know how my...
There are fifty ways to leave your lover,
But only six exits from this airplane.
--Southwest Airlines announcement
When I started the 400 Year Project (a program to identify ways that everyone can improve performance 20 times faster), I had no idea of how that fine purpose would be accomplished. I also knew that I needed a lot of help.
What to do? I decided to be candid in speaking...
Just do it.
--Nike advertisement
Many times we are asked to express ideas that no one has thought about before. What\'s a good way to do this?
Story tellers rely on letting people use their imagination. To do that, they often start with phrases like \"Once upon a time . . .\" that empower us to sit back and dream a bit.
For a nonfiction subject, it\'s good to bring forth people who...
