“There are three kinds of people in the world – those who make it happen, those who watch it happen, and those who wonder what happened”
Ronald Reagan, 1911-2004
Michael Faraday (1791-1867), reply to William Gladstone, then British Minister of Finance, when asked of the practical value of electricity: “One day sir, you may tax it.”
“The markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent”
John Maynard Keynes, 1883-1946
“The real difficulty lies not in developing new ideas, but in escaping from the old ones”
John Maynard Keynes, 1883-1946
“Confidence is what you have before you understand the problem “
Woody Allen, 1935-
“He that is too secure is not safe”
Thomas Fuller, 1608-1661
“It is very wrong to be right before everyone else”
Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, 1533-1592
In the 1980s, we had to work smarter and all began re-engineering;
In the 1990s, we had to work cheaper so we outsourced everything; and
In the 2000s, we had to work globally so we moved everything offshore.
In the 2010s, we have to work more easily and so business simplification will be the focus.
Simplify products, services and processes to their essentials.
That is what the iPod has done for music – it’s just one button! – and businesses need to do the same.
Simplify and you will win.
Stéphane Garelli is a Professor at both the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), and at the University of Lausanne, Director of The World Competitiveness Yearbook, the most renowned annual analysis of the competitiveness of nations and a reference for government and business leaders around the world.
He is Chairman of the Board of Directors of “Le Temps”, and was formerly Chairman of the Board of the Sandoz Financial and Banking Holding, and member of the board of the Banque Edouard Constant.
The author of numerous publications in the field of competitiveness, international trade and investments, he is also a columnist in several magazines. He was permanent senior adviser to the European management of Hewlett-Packard, and before that Managing Director of the World Economic Forum and of the Davos Symposium. He is a member of a number of institutes, such as: China Enterprise Management Association, Board of the ‘Fondation Jean Monet pour l’Europe’, The Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences, The Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce and the Mexican Council for Competitiveness.
