Thomas J. Watson was an American businessman. He served as the chairman and CEO of International Business Machines (IBM). He oversaw the company’s growth into an international force from 1914 to 1956. Watson developed IBM’s management style and corporate culture from John Henry Patterson’s training at NCR. He turned the company into a highly-effective selling organization, based largely on punched card tabulating machines. A leading self-made industrialist, he was one of the richest men of his time and was called the world’s greatest salesman when he died in 1956. May his quotes inspire you to take action so that you may live your dreams.
1. “Whenever an individual or a business decides that success has been attained, progress stops.” Thomas J. Watson
2. “I’m no genius. I’m smart in spots and I stay around those spots.” Thomas J. Watson
3. “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.” Thomas J. Watson
4. “I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.” Thomas J. Watson
5. “Failure is a teacher; a harsh one, but the best.” Thomas J. Watson
6. “I was asked if I was going to fire an employee who made a mistake that cost the company $600,000. No, I replied, I just spent $600,000 training him. Why would I want somebody to hire his experience?” Thomas J. Watson
7. “All the problems of the world could be settled easily if men were only willing to think. The trouble is that men very often resort to all sorts of devices in order not to think because thinking is such hard work.” Thomas J. Watson
8. “If we do not take advantage of our opportunities, it is our own fault.” Thomas J. Watson
9. “It was courage, faith, endurance, and a dogged determination to surmount all obstacles that built this bridge.” Thomas J. Watson
10. “You cannot stay in one place: you either go forward or you go backward.” Thomas J. Watson
11. “The best way to supervise your men is from their reports that they make out.” Thomas J. Watson
12. “Treat each case as an individual case, and give every man an opportunity to earn just as much money as he is capable of earning.” Thomas J. Watson
13. “If you aren’t playing well, the game isn’t as much fun. When that happens I tell myself just to go out and play as I did when I was a kid.” Thomas J. Watson
14. “If you want to succeed, double your failure rate.” Thomas J. Watson
15. “The great accomplishments of man have resulted from the transmission of ideas and enthusiasm.” Thomas J. Watson
16. “Really big people are, above everything else, courteous, considerate and generous – not just to some people in some circumstances – but to everyone all the time.” Thomas J. Watson
17. “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.” Thomas J. Watson
18. “Good design is good business.” Thomas J. Watson
19. “If you want to achieve excellence, you can get there today. As of this second, quit doing less-than-excellent work.” Thomas J. Watson
20. “Design must reflect the practical and aesthetic in business but above all, good design must primarily serve people.” Thomas J. Watson
21. “Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure. You’re thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn’t at all, you can be discouraged by failure – or you can learn from it. So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because remember that’s where you’ll find success. On the far side of failure.” Thomas J. Watson
22. “Man has made some machines that can answer questions provided the facts are profusely stored in them, but we will never be able to make a machine that will ask questions. The ability to ask the right question is more than half the battle of finding the answer.” Thomas J. Watson
23. “Nothing so conclusively proves a man’s ability to lead others as what he does from day to day to lead himself.” Thomas J. Watson
24. “As I associated with more and more different types, I realized that to make it, you had to get along with almost everybody. If you dislike the people you work with, you’d better not show it. I learned that to be a good leader, I had to strike a delicate balance.” Thomas J. Watson
25. “Wisdom is the power to put our time and our knowledge to the proper use.” Thomas J. Watson
26. “A manager is an assistant to his men.” Thomas J. Watson
27. “God cannot deny a praying soul.” Thomas J. Watson
28. “Once an organization loses its spirit of pioneering and rests on its early work, its progress stops.” Thomas J. Watson
29. “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.” Thomas J. Watson
30. “None of us can hope to get anywhere without character, moral courage and the spiritual strength to accept responsibility.” Thomas J. Watson
31. “If you stand up and be counted, from time to time you may get yourself knocked down. But remember this: A man flattened by an opponent can get up again. A man flattened by conformity stays down for good.” Thomas J. Watson
32. “Follow the path of the unsafe, independent thinker. Expose your ideas to the dangers of controversy. Speak your mind and fear less the label of ‘crackpot’ than the stigma of conformity. And on issues that seem important to you, stand up and be counted at any cost.” Thomas J. Watson
33. “Don’t make friends who are comfortable to be with. Make friends who will force you to lever yourself up.” Thomas J. Watson
34. “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. Lying dead in the water and doing nothing is a comfortable alternative because it is without risk, but it is an absolutely fatal way to manage a business.” Thomas J. Watson
35. “To be successful, you have to have your heart in your business and your business in your heart.” Thomas J. Watson
