Tweet

Thomas Watson Quotes

Article Overview: Thomas Watson Quotes

Thomas Watson Quotes

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.

I have made a good many predictions about the future of our business and I have been wrong every time because I have always underestimated its possibilities.

It is better to aim at perfection and miss it than to aim at imperfection and hit it.

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.

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.

There is no such thing as standing still.

You cannot stay in one place: you either go forward or go backward.

We must never feel satisfied.

Whenever an individual or a business decides that success has been attained, progress stops.

Our aim is higher every year and we always reach our mark. We must never think that what we have today will satisfy the demand ten years from now.

Analyze the past, consider the present and visualize the future.

Plan for the future…Have faith in the future.

Resolve to stand for something big and fine outside of your business life.

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.

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.

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.

Develop your initiative. Do something no one else has done.

Pioneering must never cease. Yesterday we pioneered for today; today, we are pioneering for tomorrow.

Too many people are waiting for someone else to give them a push. We have tried to develop self-starters in IBM.

Your success will be determined by the manner in which you use the tools you have been given to work with. When practicing the art of selling use all your talents. Put everything you have into your efforts; above all put your personality into them. Never copy anybody. Be yourself.

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.

What every business needs is more people who think.

Think. Think about your appearance, associations, actions, ambitions, accomplishment.

Education is the foundation of our progress. Research is the advance guard of our progress.

The forces that produce success are manpower and brain-power.

Knowledge creates enthusiasm.

You must guard constantly against those who lack vision. You must guard against the reactionary mind. Always cultivate and associate with persons of vision and with persons who believe that things are going to be better. When you do this, you take on the kind of vision, backed by the right kind of inspiration that you need if you are going to grow in this business or any other business.

Good design is good business. Design must reflect the practical and aesthetic in business but above all…good design must primarily serve people.

A man is known by the company he keeps. A company is known by the men it keeps.

The IBM spirit, the IBM heart and the IBM language were the same in all tongues and in all countries.

A manager should regard his position as one that gives him a splendid opportunity to render assistance.

A manager is an assistant to his men.

It is impossible for any man, I don’t care how able he may be, to do the work and attend to all the details of a business – to accomplish anything – without the support of his entire organization. This business is such that neither I nor any executive staff can run it alone. It is too big. Our company has grown each year and succeeded because everybody has been contributing to its success.

Every manager’s first duty is to help the men under his direction…Listen to the man below you as well as the one above.

Cooperation means to give just as much as you get.

We have proved the worth of our machines to the world, and I feel it is now our obligation to plan so that this business may go on for all time. I want all of you to get the same kind of vision and belief in IBM.

Learn to supervise yourself.

The great accomplishments of man have resulted from the transmission of ideas and enthusiasm.

To visualize the future of IBM you must know something of the past.

Related Articles
  The Black Sheep of the Family: Thomas Watson Jr.’s Early Years
  The Computer Revolution: IBM Grows Up
  Lesson #1: Failure Is Your Friend On the Road To Success
  Computer Titan: The Early Years of Thomas Watson
  From Peddling to Profits: How Thomas Watson Achieved Success

Article Tags: aim, business life, conformity, controversy, crackpot, dead in the water, failure, faith, far side, fear, imperfection, independent thinker, initiative, possibilities, resolve, risk, stigma, thomas watson



Related Forum Posts
The Value of Mentoring - Successful mentor pairings (in case there was any doubt as to the value of mentoring): 1. André Ouellet (President, Canada Post) mentor to Mark Whalen (Urban Organics and winner, Young Entrepreneur Award) 2. Marc Lefrançois (President, Via Rail Canada) mentor to Jeffrey Campbell (Core Networks, Inc. and winner, Young Entrepreneur Award) 3. Donald Kendall (former CEO of PepsiCo) mentor to John Scully (former CEO of Apple) 4. Harland Sanders (the Colonel) mentor to Dave Thomas (founder of Wendy's) 5. Stuart Friend (KMart manager) mentor to Wayne Sales (CEO of Canadian Tire) 6. Jim Rohn (author, motivational speaker) mentor to Anthony Robbins (author, motivational speaker) 7. Robert Patterson (CEO, National Cash Register) mentor to Thomas Watson (founder of IBM) 8. Henri-Paul Rosseau (President, Laurentian Bank of Canada) mentor to isabel Rodriquez and Yves Besner (i4design and winners, Young Entrepreneur Award)
5 Entrepreneur's success stories - My local paper's business section profiled 5 successful entrepreneurs in the Jan 6, 2008 issue of the paper. Thought I'd share just a bit of it here. Bill and Heidi Dittmar: Executive Lifestyle Jeff Wassmer: Spectrum Deloise Hawkins, Star Whitaker and Lenzy Hill: Touch of Elegance Stephen Brosius: Advanced Door Systems Pam Watson: Goodrich and Watson Insurers Bill and Heidi Dittmar: Executive Lifestyle founders of a magazine called Executive Lifestyle. Started in 1991. Revenue has grown more than 200% since 2004. 4 full time, 3 part time employees "We started off with $1,000 and a stupid idea." It began as This Month, a guide for tourists, and morphed into Executive Lifestyle. Jeff Wassmer: Spectrum Company specializes in computer network security and intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance. Wassmer was an 11-year Air Force guy, so he had "ins" in order to form this business. Deloise Hawkins, Star Whitaker and Lenzy Hill: Touch of Elegance Founded business in 1994. 12 employees. Their company designs and plans an average of 25 events each month in Hampton Roads and other parts of Virginia. Stephen Brosius: Advanced Door Systems Started company in 1995. 5 full-time employees, plus subcontractors. After having worked as a subcontractor for others in the construction business for 20 years, he decided to start his own business. Pam Watson: Goodrich and Watson Insurers At age 49, she was approached by an insurance colleague to buy out their employer's insurance division. They did so, and became employers themselves., witj 4 full-time people.
Hi everyone - My name is David Anthony Watson, from Manchester in the UK and I have just joined this week. I am looking forward to networking with so many highly talented entrepreneurs on this site. All the best, David
Re: How did we Live before Electricity - Ben Franklin and Thomas Edison - USA heros!
Re: Search Engine Optimization - Hi Thomas, So what would you recommend? Hiring an SEO expert or simply trying your hand at doing it yourself?


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Track Your Time for Increased Productivity

The Future of Online Marketing

Ten Reasons to take Notes during Sales Meetings

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.