The art of progress is to preserve order amid change and to preserve change amid order.
Alfred North Whitehead, British philosopher, mathematician (1861-1947)
Organisations change in units of one.
Peter Sole, British IT researcher
Change Agents
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is that good people do nothing – you must be the change that you want to see in the world.
Mahatma Gandhi, Indian nationalist leader (1869-1948)
Every change or reform you make is going to have consequences you don’t like.
There is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle, than to institute a new order of things.
Niccolo Machiavelli, Italian political theorist (1469-1527)
Think of yourselves as pioneers of a new age – you are not merely discovering a new world, you are helping to shape it
David Williams, British author, presenter (b. 1950)
Don’t be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated. You can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps.
David Lloyd George, British Prime Minister (1863-1945)
Another contributory factor to failure is that many top managers are now so removed from their underlings that they will wildly underestimate how long it takes to embed really fundamental change. All too often impatient managers signal a new direction even before those at the bottom have executed the last one. Not surprisingly, the result of such inconsistencies is change indigestion.
Simon Caulkin, British journalist
Become a student of change. It is the only thing that will remain constant.
Anthony J D’Angelo, US educationist, author
When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world. I found it very difficult to change the world, so I tried to change my nation. When I found I couldn’t change the nation, I began to focus on my town. I couldn’t change the town and, as an older man, I tried to change my family. Now, as an old man, I realise that if long ago I had changed myself, I could have made an impact on my family. My family and I could have made an impact on our town. Their impact could have changed the nation and I could indeed have changed the world.
Unknown monk (1100 AD)
Collaboration
If you have come here to do something for me, you are wasting your time; if you have come here because your transformation is directly involved with mine, let’s get to work.
Australian aborigine leader to a social worker
In the long history of humankind (and animalkind too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.
Charles Darwin, British naturalist (1809-1882)
None of us is as smart as all of us.
Chinese proverb
I not only use all the brains I have, but all I can borrow.
Woodrow Wilson, US President (1856-1924)
If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples, then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I also have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.
George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright, essayist (1856-1950)
Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than in the one where they sprang up.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, US essayist, poet (1809-1894)
Great discoveries and improvements invariably involve the cooperation of many minds.
Alexander Graham Bell, British inventor (1847-1922)
We are all angels with one wing; we can only fly while embracing each other.
Luciano de Crescenzo, Italian author (b. 1928)
Every man works better when he has companions working in the same line, and yielding to the stimulus of suggestions, comparisons, emulation. Great things have of course been done by solitary workers; but they have usually been done with double the pains they would have cost if they had been produced in more genial circumstances.
Henry James, US author (1843-1916)
Commitment
Change does not take time. It takes commitment.
Thomas Crum, US management consultant, presenter
Nothing great will ever be achieved without great men, and men are great only if they are determined to be so.
Charles de Gaulle, French President, general (1890-1978)
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever does.
Margaret Mead, US anthropologist (1901-1978)
Commit yourself to a dream. Nobody who tries to do something great but fails is a total failure. Why? Because he can always rest assured that he succeeded in life’s most important battle – he defeated his fear of trying.
Robert Schuller, US clergyman, author (b. 1926)
Consider the postage stamp. Its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing till it gets there.
John Billings, US humorist (1818-1885)
Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilisation work.
Vince Lombardi, US football coach (1913-1970)
Everything’s in the mind. That’s where it all starts. Knowing what you want is the first step towards getting it.
Mae West, US actress (1893-1980)
Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.
Gimli, character in a novel by J R R Tolkien (1892-1973)
Communication
I know that you believe that you understood what you think I said, but I am not sure you realise that what you heard is not what I meant.
Robert J McCloskey, US diplomat (1922-1996)
The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.
George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright, essayist (1856-1950)
Inform all the troops that communication has completely broken down.
Ashleigh Brilliant, British philosopher, author (b. 1933)
A leader cannot afford to be a good communicator. He must be a great communicator.
WillamTerrell Hodges, US Federal judge (b. 1934)
If an organisation is to work effectively, the communication should be through the most effective channel regardless of the organisation chart.
Daniel Packard, US electrical engineer, entrepreneur (1912-1996)
If you don’t give people information, they’ll make up something to fill the void.