Billie Holiday: “I’m always making a comeback, but nobody ever tells me where I’ve been.”

Dr. Seuss: “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” (The Quotations Page)

Poul Anderson: “I have yet to see any problem, however complicated, which, when you looked at it in the right way, did not become still more complicated.”—(from Quotes of the Day)

Consider this a corollary to this misquote of H.L. Mencken: “For every complicated problem, there’s a simple solution—and it’s wrong…” (visit QOTD for the actual quote and some discussion about how it’s often misquoted)

Guy Kawasaki’s excellent job-hunting advice also applies outside of Silicon Valley. My favorite line:

“As a rule of thumb, if you can’t pitch your company in ten slides or pitch yourself in one page, your idea is stupid and you suck, respectively.”

Eric Benn: “Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy.”

That’s one theory. Politics is also the art of avoiding any trouble, finding someone to blame in case you find trouble, and hoping action to deal with trouble won’t be required until well after you’ve moved on to the next office.

Ah, cynicism!

Ten, no, make that eleven questions. Eleven great answers, including:

Question: What is an example of a company that is most willing to be criticized?

Answer: I think we need to draw a distinction between being willing to be criticized as a way to engage customers and being criticized as a way to improve. Ann Coulter, who, in my opinion, is a dangerous idiot, has a huge willingness to be criticized and a complete inability to listen to the criticism.
…
Bill Clinton was open to criticism as well, probably to his detriment. All those conversations got in the way of leading in the long run.

I especially liked Guy’s answers to #7, “What are the five things that enabled you to be successful?”

Tom Peters says Fortune and Jack Welch are both wrong:

“The real Welch magic, as I see it, can be summarized in just two words: EXECUTION MANIA. GE folks make promises—and keep them. This turns out to be Novel Idea No.1 in virtually all Big Cos, and most not-so-big-companies. Welch and GE live by: Execute. Execute. Execute.”

“If we don’t change direction soon, we’ll end up where we’re going.”

“So would-be achievers, hone your political skills! I’m not encouraging you to become a shit, but I am encouraging you to learn not only to live with, but to love the messiness of interactions among your fellow human beings.” (The Tom Peters Weblog)

“In my architecture practice I have lectured on this subject constantly to everyone who would listen; staff, clients, consultants, public officials etc. Anything that builds trust is a good thing, anything that reduces trust is a bad thing!” (Sheldon Liber—Blogging Stocks)