Quotes by Thomas J. Watson

About Thomas J. Watson:

Thomas John Watson Sr. was an American businessman. He served as the chairman and CEO of International Business Machines (IBM) and oversaw the company's growth into an international force from 1914 to 1956. Watson developed IBM's distinctive management style and corporate culture, and turned the company into a highly-effective selling organization, based largely on punched card tabulating machines. A leading self-made industrialist, he was one of the richest men of his time and was called the world's greatest salesman when he died in 1956.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Recently, I was asked if I was going to fire an employee who made a mistake that cost the company $600,000. No, I replied, I just spent $600,000 training him. Why would I want somebody to hire his experience?

Thomas J. Watson

You can be discouraged by failure, or you can learn from it. So go ahead and make mistakes, make all you can. Because, remember that's where you'll find success - on the far side of failure.

Thomas J. Watson

If you want to increase your success rate, double your failure rate.

Thomas J. Watson

Good design is good business.

Thomas J. Watson

Nothing so conclusively proves a man's ability to lead others as what he does from day to day to lead himself.

Thomas J. Watson

If you aren't playing well, the game isn't as much fun. When that happens I tell myself just to go out and play as I did when I was a kid.

Thomas J. Watson

Whenever an individual or a business decides that success has been attained, progress stops.

Thomas J. Watson

Design must reflect the practical and aesthetic in business but above all... good design must primarily serve people.

Thomas J. Watson

To be successful, you have to have your heart in your business and your business in your heart.

Thomas J. Watson

Every time we've moved ahead in IBM, it was because someone was willing to take a chance, put his head on the block, and try something new.

Thomas J. Watson

The great accomplishments of man have resulted from the transmission of ideas and enthusiasm.

Thomas J. Watson

If you stand up and be counted, from time to time you may get yourself knocked down. But remember this: A man flattened by an opponent can get up again. A man flattened by conformity stays down for good.

Thomas J. Watson

You don't hear things that are bad about your company unless you ask. It is easy to hear good tidings, but you have to scratch to get the bad news.

Thomas J. Watson

Follow the path of the unsafe, independent thinker. Expose your ideas to the danger of controversy. Speak your mind and fear less the label of 'crackpot' than the stigma of conformity.

Thomas J. Watson

Wisdom is the power to put our time and our knowledge to the proper use.

Thomas J. Watson

Really big people are, above everything else, courteous, considerate and generous - not just to some people in some circumstances - but to everyone all the time.

Thomas J. Watson

The toughest thing about the power of trust is that it's very difficult to build and very easy to destroy. The essence of trust building is to emphasize the similarities between you and the customer.

Thomas J. Watson

All the problems of the world could be settled easily if men were only willing to think. The trouble is that men very often resort to all sorts of devices in order not to think, because thinking is such hard work.

Thomas J. Watson

A manager is an assistant to his men.

Thomas J. Watson

The way to succeed is to double your error rate.

Thomas J. Watson

Author Bio

  • NameThomas J. Watson
  • Descriptionchairman and CEO of International Business Machines
  • AliasesThomas John Watson
  • BornFebruary 17, 1874
  • DiedJune 19, 1956
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionEntrepreneur