by Ted Eytan, on 27 Apr 2007 04:45 pm
The Journey
Quote of the Week
Lee informed me that I’m on blog duty for the next week or so while he conducts a few lean events. That means I get to own the quote syndicate, too.
The following are from Donald Trump, who, without espousing lean itself, appears to approximate LEAN-like business practices, with good results.
On establishing a business system:
I have looked at so many businesses that are top-heavy, staffed by highly educated and highly paid people who are working hard and accomplishing little. In most cases, these types of businesses focus primarily on people and not on developing great systems. A great team of highly paid people will fail without great systems. - Donald Trump
On achieving success by doing only what is necessary:
…when people visit my core office at the Trump Organization, they are always surprised by how small it actually is. We generate a lot of activity from here because we don’t have unnecessary energy sappers like overstaffing, overstuffing or unused space. Everyone knows what they’re doing, and they do it. I know my name is synonymous with luxury, but tht’s because we know how to work to achieve it to begin with. It’s hard to be creative when things are too big to control, and it’s hard to control that which gets out of hand. - Donald Trump
And this one, which is my personal favorite:
FOCUS =
Follow
One
Course
Until
Successful
All are from his latest book, and they are a reminder to me that the core philosophy of LEAN is a part of many successful business operations.