A man approached JP Morgan, held up an envelope, and said, “Sir, in my hand I hold a guaranteed formula for success, which I will gladly sell you for $25,000.” “Sir,” JP Morgan replied, “I do not know what is in the envelope, however if you show me, and I like it, I give you my word as a gentleman that I will pay you what you ask.” The man agreed to the terms, and handed over the envelope. JP Morgan opened it, and extracted a single sheet of paper. He gave it one look, a mere glance, then handed the piece of paper back to the gent. And paid him the agreed-upon $25,000.
The Paper:
1. Every morning, write a list of the things that need to be done that day.
2. Do them.
“We have a ‘strategic’ plan. It’s called doing things.”
-Herb Kelleher, founder, Southwest Airlines
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”
-Charles Darwin
“We may not be interested in chaos but chaos is interested in us.”
-Robert Cooper, The Breaking of Nations: Order and Chaos in the Twenty-first Century
“If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less.”
-General Eric Shinseki, retired Chief of Staff, U.S. Army
“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”
-Gandhi
“We eat change for breakfast!”
-Harry Quadracci, founder, QuadGraphics
“If things seem under control, you’re just not going fast enough.”
-Mario Andretti
“You can’t behave in a calm, rational manner. You’ve got to be out there on the lunatic fringe.”
-Jack Welch, retired CEO, GE
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