Tom’s Call On Bias For Action

Bias For Action is the first idea Tom emphasized in his early work In Search Of Excellence. Courtesy of Paul Kedrosky, noticed Tom's recent slide deck where he higlights what looks simple but perhaps amongst the toughest to act upon:

“In Tom’s world, it’s always better to try a swan dive and deliver a colossal belly flop than to step timidly off the board while holding your nose.” —Fast Company /October2003

“We have a ‘strategic plan.’ It’s called doing things.” — Herb Kelleher

“We made mistakes. Most of them were omissions we didn’t think of when we initially wrote the software. We fixed them by doing it over and over, again and again. We do the same today: While our competitors are still sucking their thumbs trying to make the design perfect, we’re already on prototype version No. 5. By the time our rivals are ready with wires and screws, we are on version No. 10. It gets back to planning versus acting: We act from day one; others plan how to plan—for months.” —Bloomberg by Bloomberg