Thomas Watson Sr. Quotes
24 quotes from Thomas Watson Sr. — Built IBM from a small tabulating company into a global computing giant..
“I learned more about business in five years with Mr. Patterson than most men learn in a lifetime.”
“I need a man who can sell ice to Eskimos and make them glad they bought it.”
“I have observed that people who worry about the future usually create one that's worth worrying about.”
“The war has taught us that machines can think faster than men, but they cannot think better than men unless men think first.”
“You can't build a business on the foundation of unhappy people.”
“The way to succeed is to double your failure rate.”
“The secret of success is to understand the point of view of others.”
“Nothing so conclusively proves a man's ability to lead others as what he does from day to day to lead himself.”
“Whenever an individual or a business decides that success has been attained, progress stops.”
“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.”
“Solve it. Solve it quickly, solve it right or wrong. If you solve it wrong, it will come back and slap you in the face, and then you can solve it right.”
“All the problems of the world could be settled easily if men were only willing to think.”
“The great accomplishments of man have resulted from the transmission of ideas and enthusiasm.”
“Every time we've moved ahead in IBM, it was because someone was willing to take a chance, put his head on the block, and try something new.”
“If you want to increase your success rate, double your failure rate.”
“A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him.”
“You have to put yourself in the customer's place and ask: What do I want as a customer?”
“The best way to make a sale is to ask for ask for the order.”
“Follow the path of the unsafe, independent thinker. Expose your ideas to the danger of controversy. Speak your mind and fear less the label of 'crackpot' than the stigma of conformity.”
“Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It's quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure.”
“If you aren't playing well, the problem is in your thinking. Your body will reproduce exactly what your mind tells it to do.”
“You don't hear things that are bad about your company unless you ask. It is easy to hear good tidings, but you have to scratch to get the bad news.”
“The toughest thing about the power of trust is that it's very difficult to build and very easy to destroy. The essence of trust building is to emphasize the similarities between you and the customer.”
“Good design is good business.”
