Modernity and levels of wealth

For thousands and thousands of years, people have lived on the brink of famine and in fear of plagues, always at the mercy of a drought or a simple flu. Then suddenly, almost out of nowhere, modernity has brought us unprecedented wealth and life expectancy in the last two centuries. And all this extraordinary progress has come not from individuals acting alone, but from people collaborating in organizations.

[Frederic Laloux]

Character matters more than words

What we are communicates far more eloquently than anything we say or do. We all know it. There are people we trust absolutely because we know their character. Whether they are eloquent or not, whether they have the human relations techniques or not, we trust them, and we work successfully with them.

[Stephen R. Covey]

Mind and body at their best

Human beings change through study, habit, and stories. Through my story you will learn what the body and mind are capable of when they're driven to maximum capacity, and how to get there. Because when you’re driven, whatever is in front of you, whether it’s racism, sexism, injuries, divorce, depression, obesity, tragedy, or poverty, becomes fuel for your metamorphosis.

[David Goggins]

Real decutation, day in and day out

To focus on technique is like cramming your way through school. You sometimes get by, perhaps even get good grades, but if you don’t pay the price day in and day out, you’ll never achieve true mastery of the subjects you study or develop an educated mind.

[Stephen R. Covey]

Profit as a means to a greater end

It is necessary to recognize one's company as part of the ecosystem in which it lives and with a clear calling
to do something useful for people, society and the planet. [...] Profit becomes a means to a greater end that simultaneously produces impact in the world and vitality in the organization. [...] We need to imagine more and more workplaces where individual and organizational biographical development coexist, leading people to feel part of a community and not small cogs in a big mechanical wheel.

[Frederic Laloux]

For every 100 soldiers, only one

is a warrior

Heraclitus, a philosopher born in the Persian Empire back in the fifth century BC, had it right when he wrote about men on the battlefield, «Out of every one hundred men, ten shouldn’t even be there, eighty are just targets, nine are real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. Ah, but one, one is a warrior... »

[David Goggins]

Actually, we describe ourselves

Each of us tends to think we see things as they are, that we are objective. But this is not the case.
We see the world, not as it is, but as we are – or, as we are conditioned to see it. When we open our mouths to describe what we see, we in effect describe ourselves, our perceptions, our paradigms. When other people disagree with us, we immediately think something is wrong with them. But, as the demonstration shows, sincere, clearheaded people see things differently, each looking through the unique lens of experience.

[Stephen R. Covey]

Leveraging the remaining 60% of capacity

Odds are you have had a much better childhood than I did, and even now might have a damn decent life, but no matter who you are, who your parents are or were, where you live, what you do with your life, or how much money you make, you are probably harnessing about 40% of your actual abilities. We all have the potential to become much better than we are.

[David Goggins]

Work must make sense

The current way we run organizations has been stretched to its limits. For people who toil away at the bottom of the pyramids, surveys consistently report that work is more often than not dread and drudgery, not passion or purpose. But life at the top of the pyramids isn’t much more fulfilling. Behind the facade and the bravado, the lives of powerful corporate leaders are ones of quiet suffering too. Their frantic activity is often a poor cover up for a deep inner sense of emptiness.

[Frederic Laloux]

Snippets excerpted from:

• Stephen R. Covey, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, Simon & Schuster UK 
• Frederic Laloux, “Reinventing Organizations”, Nelson Parker
• David Goggins, “Can’t Hurt Me”, Lioncrest Publishing