“Blank Fortune Cookies”
“A wise old sage hosted a dinner. Toward the end of the meal, everyone was given fortune cookies and told that they’re holding their future in their hands. The guests eagerly opened them to read the words of wisdom they contained. The paper slips inside each cookie were blank.
‘Is this a joke?’ they asked. ‘Is our fortune so bleak or so full of emptiness?’ ‘That’s up to each of you. The choice is yours,’ the sage replied. ‘Many people are eager to have soothsayers predict their future. Fewer are willing to take responsibility for writing their own fortune. Your future is a blank sheet of paper waiting for you to create what is to come.” (“When Choosing Our Thoughts We Choose Our Future,” Jim Clemmer, Practical Leadership Blog)
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“… if there’s one overarching message arising from more than six thousand years of corporate history across all our research … it would be this: greatness is not primarily a matter of circumstance; greatness is first and foremost a matter of conscious choice and discipline.” (Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck — Why Some Thrive Despite Them All by Jim Collins and Morten Hansen)
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“What used to be called the ‘soft issues’ of business will increasingly be the differentiators of sustainable excellence in every industry in the word … Ultimately – after the technology is in place, our organizations are well structured, and all processes are flowing smoothly – what will make or break any business will be the spirit of the people who do the work.” (Tom Morris, If Aristotle Ran General Motors)
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Catalyst Quotes 