from his book, What Got You Here Won’t Get You There
On his work:
"A chef at one of my favorite restaurants in San Diego told me that his signature dish succeeds or fails on one secret ingredient. Leave it out and the patrons’ plates come back to the kitchen only half eaten. Sprinkle it in the proper amount and the plates come back clean. Think of me as the honest diner who sends back his meal untouched to let you know that something is missing."
"If I can help you consider the possibility that, despite your demonstrable success and laudable self-esteem, you might not be as good as you think you are; that all of us have corners in our behavioral makeup that are messy; and that these messy corners can be pinpointed and tidied up, then I can leave the world-and your world-a slightly better place than I found it."
On blind spots and self-deception:
"Doctors may be the most delusional. I once told a group of MDs that my extensive research proved that exactly half of all MDs graduated in the bottom half of their medical school class. Two doctors in the room insisted this was impossible. Imagine trying to tell people like this that they’re doing something wrong and need to change."
"If you’re born on third base, you shouldn’t think you’ve hit a triple."
"Four key beliefs help us become successful. Each of these make it tough for us to change. And that’s the paradox of success: These beliefs that carried us here may be holding us back in our quest to go there."
On "busy-ness":
"When I surveyed executives about why they felt overcommitted, none of them said they were trying to ‘save a sinking ship.’ They were overcommitted because they were ‘drowning in a sea of opportunity.’"
"Overcommitment can be as serious an obstacle to change as believing that you don’t need fixing or that your flaws are part of the reason you’re successful."
On change:
"I have now made peace with the fact that I cannot make people change. I can only help them get better at what they choose to change."
On superstitions:
"Almost everyone I meet is successful because of doing a lot of things right, and almost everyone I meet is successful in spite of some behavior that defies common sense. One of my greatest challenges is helping leaders see the difference…."
