Josh Kaufman Quotes

Business is not (and has never been) rocket science — it

The best businesses in the world are the ones that create the most value for other people.

Ошибка присвоения состоит в том, что, когда неудачу терпят другие, мы виним их, а когда ошибка происходит по нашей вине, мы виним обстоятельства

By recruiting a good team and eliminating as much Friction (discussed later) as possible, you’ll achieve the results you’re seeking.

لن يحصل المجتمع الذي يحتقر التميز في السباكة كنشاط متواضع، ويحتمل الرداءة في الفلسفة لأنها نشاط محترم، على من يجيد السباكة أو الفلسفة، ولن تكون أنابيبه سليمة، أو فلسفته منطقية. - جون دبليو. جاردنر، رئيس سابق لشركة كارنيجي

At the core, every business is a collection of five Interdependent processes, each of which flows into the next: 1. Value Creation — discovering what people need or want, then creating it. 2. Marketing — attracting attention and building demand for what you’ve created. 3. Sales — turning prospective customers into paying customers. 4. Value Delivery — giving your customers what you’ve promised and ensuring that they’re satisfied. 5. Finance — bringing in enough money to keep going and make your effort worthwhile.

Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.

Management is the act of coordinating a group of people to achieve a specific Goal while accounting for ever-present Change and Uncertainty.

The competitor to be feared is one who never bothers about you at all, but goes on making his own business better all the time. — HENRY FORD,

Focus on creating Forms of Value that require the least end-user effort to get the best possible End Result — they will have the highest perceived value.

Education is not the answer to the question. Education is the means to the answer to all questions. — BILL ALLIN, SOCIOLOGIST AND EDUCATION ACTIVIST

HERE’S WHAT MAKES A BUSINESS RESILIENT: Low (preferably zero) outstanding debt Low overhead, fixed costs, and operating expenses Substantial cash reserves for unexpected contingencies Multiple independent products/industries/lines of business Flexible workers/employees who can handle many responsibilities well No single points of failure Fail-safes/backup systems for all core processes

Economic Values that people typically consider when evaluating a potential purchase. They are: 1. Efficacy — How well does it work? 2. Speed — How quickly does it work? 3. Reliability — Can I depend on it to do what I want? 4. Ease of Use — How much effort does it require? 5. Flexibility — How many things does it do? 6. Status — How does this affect the way others perceive me? 7. Aesthetic Appeal — How attractive or otherwise aesthetically pleasing is it? 8. Emotion — How does it make me feel? 9. Cost — How much do I have to give up to get this?

"A decision is the act of committing to a specific plan of action. The word "decide" comes from the Latin decidere, which means to "cut off". When you make a decision, you're cutting off the other possible avenues that you could explore, leaving only the path you're committing to."

Living organisms — including human beings — are very complex Perceptual Control systems: we act in ways to keep our perceptions of the world within acceptable boundaries. We don’t put on a coat because cold weather forces us to — we put on a coat because we feel cold and we don’t want to feel cold. If the light entering our eyes is too bright, we find shade, pull down the blinds on the windows, or put on sunglasses — the action controls the perception, and the action we take depends on the Environment we find ourselves in at the time.