Albert Einstein Rule of Thumb

If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough!

Albert Einstein Rule of Thumb

Logic will get you from A to B ... imagination will take you everywhere!

Niccolò Machiavelli Rule of Thumb

There is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle than to initiate a new order of things ... for the reformer has enemies in all who profit by the old order, and only luke warm defenders in all those who profit by the new order ... this luke warmness arises partly from the incredulity of mankind, who do not truly believe in anything new until they actually experience it!

Thomas Alva Edison Rule of Thumb

I haven't failed ... I just found 1,000 ways that don't work!

[Said in reference to inventing the lightbulb]

Dorf and Byers Rule of Thumb

A business plan serves as an alignment tool for a new business venture.

Abraham Lincoln Rule of Thumb

Tact is the ability to describe others as they see themselves.

China Shop Rule of Thumb

You break it, you bought it!

Ralph Waldo Emerson Rule of Thumb

The reward of a thing well done is to have done it.

Werner Karl Heisenberg Rule of Thumb

An expert is someone who knows some of the worst mistakes that can be made in his/her subject and how to avoid them.

Thank you, Joe Driear!

Laurence J. Peter Rule of Thumb

Employees tend to rise to their level of their incompetence.

Fred Allen Rule of Thumb

A committee is a group of people who individually can do nothing but as a group decide that nothing can be done!

Ben Schott Rule of Thumb

Left-field ideas are those that tend to be unusual, creative, unexpected, and iconoclastic ... the term seems to derive from the area on a baseball field to the left of the hitter, but no one is quite certain as to why.

Francis Bacon Rule of Thumb

It's hard to take an interest in your work if you don't like it.

Robert F. Kennedy Rule of Thumb

The future does not belong to those who are content with today, apathetic toward common problems and their fellow man alike, timid and fearful in the face of bold projects and new ideas ... Rather, it will belong to those who can blend passion, reason and courage in a personal commitment to the ideals of American society.

Ben Bernanke Rule of Thumb

Over the years, the U.S. economy has shown a remarkable ability to absorb shocks of all kinds, to recover, and to continue to grow ... Flexible and efficient markets for labor and capital, an entrepreneurial tradition, and a general willingness to tolerate and even embrace technological and economic change all contribute to this resiliency.

Lafley and Charan Rule of Thumb

Every leader in charge of a P&L has to make innovation happen, even if the company lacks a culture of innovation ... I'll go further, and ask of middle managers reading this: Are you actively involved in one or more innovation-centered growth projects? If not, you should be worried, because you will be left behind or risk obsolescence.

Thank you, Dale Dauten!

William Bragg Rule of Thumb

The important thing in science is not so much to obtain new facts as to discover new ways of thinking about them.

Malcom Forbes Rule of Thumb

It's so much easier to suggest solutions when you don't know too much about the problem.

Andy Grove Rule of Thumb

Only the paranoid survive!

Tennessee Williams Rule of Thumb

Time is the longest distance between two places.

Ralph Waldo Emerson Rule of Thumb

In skating over thin ice, our safety is in our speed.

Bill Gates Rule of Thumb

Success is a lousy teacher ... it seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose.

Ken Smith Rule of Thumb

Innovation has a fuzzy front end that needs entrepreneurial awareness to focus.

Milton Friedman Rule of Thumb

The most important single central fact about a free market is that no exchange takes place unless both parties benefit.

Booker T. Washington Rule of Thumb

There are two ways of exerting one's strength: one is pushing down, the other is pulling up.

Joan Kelly Rule of Thumb

Before going into a partnership with someone, spend time with them in three different kinds of situations: a relaxing one, a competitive one, and an intellectually stimulating one.

Mahatma Ghandi Rules of Thumb

1. Change yourself.
2. You are in control.
3. Forgive and let go.
4. Without action, you aren't going anywhere.
5. Take care of this moment.
6. Everyone is human.
7. Persist.
8. See the good in people, and help them.
9. Be congruent, be authentic, be your true self.
10. Continue to grow and evolve.

Ralph Waldo Emerson Rule of Thumb

We are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery, guided each by a private chart, of which there is no duplicate ... the world is all gates, all opportunities!

Google Rules of Thumb

1. Focus on people - their lives, their work, their dreams.
2. Every millisecond counts.
3. Simplicity is powerful.
4. Engage beginners and attract experts.
5. Dare to innovate.
6. Design for the world.
7. Plan for today's and tomorrow's business.
8. Delight the eye without distracting the mind.
9. Be worthy of people's trust.
10. Add a human touch.

[Sue Factor, User Experience Group, Google ... Thank you, Joe Driear]

Heba Sinclair Rule of Thumb

I want to change the world but they won't give me the source code!

Frederic Pemji Rules of Thumb

To find your true passion ...

• What puts a smile on your face?
• What do you find easy?
• What sparks your creativity?
• What would you do for free?
• What do you like to talk about?
• What makes you unafraid of failure?
• What would you regret not having tried?

Bertrand Russell Rule of Thumb

Many people would sooner die than think ... in fact they do!

Sophie Novy Rule of Thumb

Never offer your hen for sale on a rainy day.

A. N. Whitehead Rule of Thumb

Intelligence is quickness to apprehend as distinct from ability, which is capacity to act wisely on the thing apprehended.

Frank Outlaw Rule of Thumb

Watch your thoughts; they become words ... Watch your words; they become actions ... Watch your actions; they become habits ... Watch your habits; they become character ... Watch your character; it becomes your destiny!

H. L. Mencken Rule of Thumb

I believe that it is better to tell the truth than to lie, I believe that it is better to be free than to be a slave, and I believe that it is better to know than be ignorant.

Arthur C. Clarke Rule of Thumb

The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible.

Tom Kelly Rule of Thumb

Innovation is the lifeblood of organizations ... the Devil’s Advocate is toxic, encouraging idea-wreckers to see only the downside, to smother a fragile new idea in negativity.

Peter Chang Rule of Thumb

In an information economy, the most valuable company assets drive themselves home every night ... if they are not treated well, they do not return the next morning.

Benjamin Franklin Rule of Thumb

Tell me and I forget ... teach me and I remember ... involve me and I learn.