Idioms, Credos, Sayings and Maxims: Part 3

Back by popular demand! These are sayings I've heard people saying. Don't miss the first two installments of this column (one, two).

"Go to war with the army you have, not the army you want." Make the best of what you've got.

"Hire people smarter than yourself and stay out of their way." A good general rule of management.

"Don't try to boil the ocean." Taking on so much that it becomes impossible.

"If you're getting kicked in the ass, at least it means you are still out in front." Watch your windshield and your rear view mirror.

"A good leader takes none of the credit and all of the blame." Someone's got to do it.

"Make the hidden visible." Visual reminders in the workspace allow unseen data and ideas to be revealed. Whiteboards, scorecards, updated wall-hanging dashboards.

"Answer the questions you want to answer, not the one that was asked." Like a seasoned politician.

"It’s not a party till someone looses an eye." Don't I know it.

"Tell them what you are about to tell them, then tell them and then tell them what you just told them." This is public speaking 101.

And what's with the elephant references? "The elephant in the room." or "The tale of the blind men and the elephant." or "Tripping the elephant."

"Metaphor is the lazy man’s insight."

"Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?" Because you plan to eat the cow.

"Find a crack and make it a crevice." Locate dissatisfaction and exploit it. Find fissures and squeeze in. Find the chink and cause the armor to crumble.

"Never let a good crisis go to waste." In chaos there is always opportunity.

"It doesn’t matter if you are the best, as long as you are better than average." When competing, just be better than those around you...not better than the whole world.

"A fish doesn’t know he’s wet." Are you so surrounded by your environment that you can't see what you are wrapped up in?

"Ready... Fire.. Aim!"

"Hit your mark and bark." Sometimes being part of a team means you're like an actor; enter on cue and run the lines. And while you're at it, "Don't bore us. Get to the chorus."

"Don't Spray & Pray." When conducting promotional campaigns or business development, don't take a scatter-shot approach and just hope for the best.

"Work smarter not harder."

"You can't dig the trench till you build the shovel." First things first.

"It is so much more impressive when someone discovers your good qualities without your assistance."

"That light at the end of the tunnel could be the train." Or not.

"You can eat well or you can sleep well, not both."

Transportation metaphors abound. "Don't try to build a plane as you're flying it." or "Don't try to build the train tracks as the train is moving."

"A fool with a plan can beat a genius with no plan." -T. Boone Pickens' dad

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Idioms, Credos, Sayings and Maxims: Part 1
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