The productivity now at universities is terrible. Tenure is a terrible idea. It keeps them around forever and they don't have to work hard.
We've only been wealthy in this country for 70 years. Who said we ought to have all this? Is it ordained?
The story about GE that hasn't been told is the value of an informal place. I think it's a big thought. I don't think people have ever figured out that being informal is a big deal.
There's no such thing as work-life balance. There are work-life choices, and you make them, and they have consequences.
An organization's ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage.
What's important at the grocery store is just as important in engines or medical systems. If the customer isn't satisfied, if the stuff is getting stale, if the shelf isn't right, or if the offerings aren't right, it's the same thing. You manage it like a small organization. You don't get hung up on zeros.
I was never the smartest guy in the room. From the first person I hired, I was never the smartest guy in the room. And that's a big deal. And if you're going to be a leader - if you're a leader and you're the smartest guy in the world - in the room, you've got real problems.
The essence of competitiveness is liberated when we make people believe that what they think and do is important - and then get out of their way while they do it.
A strategy is something like, an innovative new product; globalization, taking your products around the world; be the low-cost producer. A strategy is something you can touch; you can motivate people with; be number one and number two in every business. You can energize people around the message.
If GE's strategy of investment in China is wrong, it represents a loss of a billion dollars, perhaps a couple of billion dollars. If it is right, it is the future of this company for the next century.