Make Strategic Moves Quotes
Effort without strategy is just noise. The man who picks his battles, times his moves, and thinks two steps ahead wins fights before they start. This Execution path holds history's sharpest quotes on strategy and decision-making. Scroll through and put them to work.
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“It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.”
“Curiosity is the key to problem solving.”
“You need to be surrounded by good advisers, but you also need to trust your instinct.”
“Inaction may be the biggest form of action.”
“The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.”
“Hard work isn't enough. And more work is never the real answer. The sort of grit you need to scale a business is less reliant on brute force. It's actually one part determination, one part ingenuity, and one part laziness.”
“He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.”
“He robs present ills of their power who has perceived their coming beforehand.”
“You don't need to be smarter than others to outperform them if you can out-position them.”
“Never make a big decision without sleeping on it.”
“If you don't make a decision, time will make it for you - and time will always default to no.”
“The score takes care of itself.”
“Execution definitely matters a lot. The idea matters a lot. But timing might matter even more. And the best way to really assess timing is to really look at whether consumers are really ready for what you have to offer them.”
“In war, the way is to avoid what is strong and to strike at what is weak.”
“Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.”
“When you have to make a choice and don't make it, that is in itself a choice.”
“Strategy is about making choices, trade-offs; it's about deliberately choosing to be different.”
“Pick battles big enough to matter, small enough to win.”
“For every effect there is a root cause. Find and address the root cause rather than try to fix the effect, as there is no end to the latter.”
“Invincibility lies in the defence; the possibility of victory in the attack.”
“Passion may win battles, but strategy wins wars.”
“Get big quietly, so you don't tip off potential competitors.”
“In God we trust; all others must bring data.”
“Identify your problems, but give your power and energy to solutions.”
“First ask yourself: What is the worst that can possibly happen? Then prepare to accept it. Then proceed to improve on the worst.”
“When making decisions, ask yourself: Will this make me stronger, smarter, or richer?”
“It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.”
“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.”
“If you pursue the right goal in the wrong way, you still end up in the wrong place.”
“Study history, study history. In history lies all the secrets of statecraft.”
“Mental toughness is the ability to focus on and execute solutions, especially in the face of adversity.”
“Truth is what stands the test of experience.”
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.”
“A great decision is the result of a good process, not a great outcome.”
“Everything in war is very simple, but the simplest thing is difficult.”
“Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.”
“The most basic idea of strategy is the application of strength against weakness.”
“Endings don't have to be failures, especially when you choose to end a project or shut down a business, even the best gigs don't last forever. Nor should they.”
“Before every action, ask yourself whether the result will be a blessing or a heavy burden.”
“Operational effectiveness is not strategy.”
“Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.”
“Never risk what you have and need for what you don't have and don't need.”
“Values are critical guides for making decisions. When in doubt, they cut through the fog like a beacon in the night.”
“If you're good at course correcting, being wrong may be less costly than you think, whereas being slow is going to be expensive for sure.”
“Assumption is the mother of all foul-ups.”
“Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”
“Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought.”
“When in doubt, don't.”
“The key to success is to decide what's most important to you and then take massive action each day to make it better.”
“The quality of our lives is the sum of decision quality plus luck.”
“Don't fight the problem, decide it.”
“Some decisions are consequential and irreversible—one-way doors—and these decisions must be made methodically, carefully, slowly. But most decisions are changeable, reversible—they're two-way doors.”
“One idea alone is a tactic, but if it can be executed a number of different ways, it becomes a great strategy.”
“Do you have the patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear?”
“Successful people make decisions quickly and change them slowly. Unsuccessful people make decisions slowly and change them quickly.”
“The company without a strategy is willing to try anything.”
“Sometimes you make the right decision, sometimes you make the decision right.”
“Leaders think and talk about the solutions. Followers think and talk about the problems.”
“When you see a good move, look for a better one.”
“When angry, count ten before you speak; if very angry, an hundred.”
“Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things.”
“Measure twice, cut once.”
“When you know yourself and your opponent, you will win every time. When you know yourself but not your opponent, you will win one and lose one. However, when you do not know yourself or your opponent, you will be imperiled every time.”
