1. Implementation Quotes

2. “ No MBA wants to learn about execution. It’s not exciting. Strategy is exciting. The Big Think is exciting. But execution is far more important. ” William Johnson Chairman and CEO of H.J. Heinz

3. “ The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do. ” Michael Porter

4. “ In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. But in practice there is! ” Jan LA van

5. “ Between the idea and the reality… Between the conception and the creation… Falls the shadow. ” TS Elliot

6. “ To achieve goals you’ve never achieved before, you need to start doing things you’ve never done before. ” Stephen Covey

7. “ A business plan is only a piece of paper and even the greatest business plan of all will prove worthless unless the people of a company buy into it. It can not be sustainable or even implemented properly, unless the people are committed to it with the same heart felt urgency as their leader. ” Howard Schultz

8. “ In business, either you're an agent of change, or you're destined to become a victim of change. ” Norm Brodsky

9. “ Action is the fundamental key to all success. ” Pablo Picasso

10. “ Never mistake motion for action. ” Earnest Hemingway

11. “ To think is easy. To act is hard. But the hardest thing in the world is to act in accordance with your thinking. ” Johann Goethe

12. “ Without action, the world would still be an idea. ” INSEAD Library in France

13. “ Strong reasons make strong actions. ” W. Shakespeare

14. “ For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism. ” Steven Wright Comedia n

15. “ An unpolished plan vigorously executed is more successful than an ideal plan implemented with less determination. Better to strike energetically, gain experience, learn what works and what does not, reassess the new situation, devise fresh plans and take another step. Spend too long preparing elaborate plans, and you will lose both time and initiative. ” Lee Hsien Loong Prime Minister of Singapore

16. “ The revival of the computer giant wasn’t due to vision, fixing IBM was all about execution. ” Louis Grestner Former CEO of IBM

17. “ Execution is the missing link between aspirations and results. ” Hitachi Global Storage Technologies

18. “ Execution is the key to strategic success ” Lawrence Hrebiniak Wharton Professor

19. “ The key difference between the worlds most admired companies and others surveyed lies in execution. ” Hay Group Research 2003

20. “ You must create a culture of trust and commitment that motivates people to implement the strategy, not to the letter but to the spirit. ” W. Chan Kim & Renee Mauborgne Blue Ocean Strategy

21. “ To improve is to change and to be perfect is to change often. ” Sir Winston Churchill

22. “ Many business visionaries have failed as leaders because they could not execute. ” Howard Schultz

23. “ Theory is splendid, but until put into practice it is valueless. ” James Cash Penny (1875-1971) Founder of JC Penny

24. “ Well done is better than well said. ” Benjamin Franklin

25. “ For a new strategy to become a movement, people must not only recognize what needs to be done, but they must act on the insight in a sustained and meaningful way. ” W. Chan Kim & Renee Mauborgne Blue Ocean Strategy

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

27. “ Strategy is 10 per cent vision and 90 per cent execution. ” Percy Barnevik Chairman of ABB

28. “ Senior managers get lulled into believing that a well conceived strategy communicated to the organization equals implementation. ” Michael Beer Harvard & Russell Eisenstat McKinsey

29. “ My job is to speak. Your job is to listen. Let's hope we finish our jobs at the same time. ” Adlai Stevenson

30. “ Some where in your organization, groups of people are already doing things differently and better. To create lasting change, find these areas of positive deviance and fan the flames. ” Richard Pascale & Jerry Sternin “Your Company’s Secret Change Agents” HBR

31. “ Nothing happens without personal transformation. ” W.E. Deming

32. “ Ideas are a commodity. Execution of them is not. ” Michael Dell

33. “ The most fundamental part of organizational success is creating a strategy and then running every decision through the prism of that plan. ” President Obama

34. “ Execution—getting the task done, making it happen—is the most unappreciated skill of an effective business leader. ” Louis V. Gerstner

35. “ Any damn fool can write a plan. It’s the execution that gets you all screwed up. ” Charles S. Noble (1999)

36. “ Strategies are intellectually simple; their execution is not. ” Lawrence A. Bossidy former CEO Allied-Signal

37. “ All men make mistakes, but only wise men learn from their mistakes. ” Sir Winston Churchill

38. “ A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week. ” George S. Patton

39. “ No plan survives the first two minutes of battle. ” Helmuth Von Moltke Chief of the Imperial German General Staff, 1858-88

40. “ Great execution beats great strategy 99% of the time. (Make that 100% of the time) ” Tom Peters

41. “ An outstanding strategy weakly executed will always be trumped by a weak strategy with outstanding execution. ” Bob Legge

42. “ However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results. ” Sir Winston Churchill

43. “ Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen. ” Michael Jordan

44. “ Companies that out-execute their competitors have communicated crystal-clear messages to all their employees. ” Louis V. Gerstner

45. “ At the end of the day, strategy is about the actions you take. Therefore, one of the highest priorities of a top-management strategy forum is to ensure disciplined implementation of key strategic initiatives. ” Mckinsey

46. “ A leader who says, ‘I’ve got ten priorities’ don’t know himself what he is talking about – he doesn't know himself what the most important things are…Leaders who execute well focus on a few clear priorities that everyone can grasp. You’ve got to have these few clearly realistic goals and priorities which will influence the overall performance of the company. ” Larry Bossidy, former CEO of Honeywell

47. “ Executing strategy is a job for a company’s whole management team, not just for a few senior managers. "The CEO and the major unit heads are ultimately responsible for ensuring the strategy is successfully executed. However the execution process affects every part of the firm. ” Thompson, Strickland and Gamble

48. “ It’s not so much the uniqueness of your strategy that mattes nowadays – it's the strength of your execution. ” Peter Loscher President & CEO of Siemens

49. “ One does not plan and then try to make circumstances fit those plans. One tries to make plans for the circumstances. ” George S. Patton Jr.

50. “ I always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable. ” Dwight D. Eisenhower

51. “ A perfect strategy today will not be perfect tomorrow as conditions change. ” Robin Speculand

52. “ Short term implementation is incremental. Long term in transformational. ” Robin Speculand

53. “ Every strategy is marked with a plan and a destination. Don't lose sight of the destination. ” Robin Speculand

54. “ Strategy without implementation is not worth the paper its written on. ” Robin Speculand

55. “ Strategy is about making the tough choices. Implementation is about taking the right actions. ” Robin Speculand

56. “ Nine out of 10 companies fail to execute their strategy. To be competitive you must excel at execution. ” Robin Speculand