View source for Notable quotes about strategy

In the competitive landscape of global commerce, the distinction between organizational success and stagnation is often defined by the clarity and execution of business strategy. Strategy is not merely a static plan but a dynamic starting point that requires leaders to make deliberate trade-offs, identifying not only the objectives to pursue but also the initiatives to decline. To be effective, a strategic vision must be translated into operational reality through a disciplined mesh of strategy with organizational reality, fueled by innovation and a profound understanding of competitive differentiation. This article synthesizes foundational insights on the nature of strategic choice, the mechanics of implementation, and the vital role of leadership and adaptability in an increasingly turbulent business environment.

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== The defining characteristics of business strategy ==

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  | text = The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.<ref>{{cite news |last=Porter |first=Michael E. |title=What Is Strategy? |url=https://hbr.org/1996/11/what-is-strategy |magazine=Harvard Business Review |date=1996-11-01 |access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>
  | author = {{Michael Porter/attribution}}
  }}
}}

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  | text = You cannot be everything to everyone. If you decide to go north, you cannot go south at the same time.<ref>{{cite book |last=De Flander |first=Jeroen |title=Strategy Execution Heroes: Business Strategy Implementation and Strategic Management Demystified |publisher=The Performance Factory |year=2010}}</ref>
  | author = {{Jeroen De Flander/attribution}}
  }}
}}

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  | text = Strategy is not the consequence of planning, but the opposite: its starting point.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mintzberg |first=Henry |title=The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning |publisher=The Free Press |year=1994}}</ref>
  | author = {{Henry Mintzberg/attribution}}
  }}
}}

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  | text = Strategy is about making choices, trade-offs; it’s about deliberately choosing to be different.<ref>{{cite news |author=Michael E. Porter |title=What Is Strategy? |url=https://hbr.org/1996/11/what-is-strategy |work=Harvard Business Review |date=1996-11-01 |access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>
  | author = {{Michael Porter/attribution}}
  }}
}}

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  | text = Create uncontested market space and make the competition irrelevant.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kim |first1=W. Chan |last2=Mauborgne |first2=Renée |title=Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant |publisher=Harvard Business School Press |date=2005}}</ref>
  | author = {{W. Chan Kim & Renée Mauborgne/attribution}}
  }}
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  | text = Brilliant strategy is the best route to desirable ends with available means.<ref>{{cite book |last=McKeown |first=Max |title=The Strategy Book: How to Think and Act Strategically to Deliver Outstanding Results |publisher=Pearson |date=2013}}</ref>
  | author = {{Max McKeown/attribution}}
  }}
}}

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  | text = Sound strategy starts with having the right goal.<ref>{{cite news |author=Jean-Louis Schaan |title=A strategic way to enter the new era of strategy |url=https://www.ivey.uwo.ca/news/news-ivey/2015/5/a-strategic-way-to-enter-the-new-era-of-strategy/ |work=Ivey Business School News |date=2015-05-15 |access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>
  | author = {{Michael Porter/attribution}}
  }}
}}

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  | text = The only way to beat the competition is to stop trying to beat the competition.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kim |first1=W. Chan |last2=Mauborgne |first2=Renée |title=Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant |publisher=Harvard Business School Press |date=2005 |page=22}}</ref>
  | author = {{W. Chan Kim & Renée Mauborgne/attribution}}
  }}
}}

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  | text = The best way to predict the future is to create it.<ref>{{cite book |last=Drucker |first=Peter F. |title=Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices |publisher=Harper & Row |date=1973}}</ref>
  | author = {{Peter Drucker/attribution}}
  }}
}}

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  | text = Strategy is about setting yourself apart from the competition.<ref>{{cite web |title=Michael Porter – Five Forces Analysis |url=https://strategiesforinfluence.com/michael-porter-coaching-tips/ |website=Strategies for Influence |access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>
  | author = {{Michael Porter/attribution}}
  }}
}}

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  | text = Every company wants one, yet only a few companies have one: a compelling strategy.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kim |first1=W. Chan |last2=Mauborgne |first2=Renée |title=Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant |publisher=Harvard Business School Press |date=2005}}</ref>
  | author = {{W. Chan Kim & Renée Mauborgne/attribution}}
  }}
}}

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  | text = The company without a strategy is willing to try anything.<ref>{{cite web |title=Michael Porter – Five Forces Analysis |url=https://strategiesforinfluence.com/michael-porter-coaching-tips/ |website=Strategies for Influence |access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>
  | author = {{Michael Porter/attribution}}
  }}
}}

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  | text = A great strategy meeting is a meeting of minds.<ref>{{cite book |last=McKeown |first=Max |title=The Strategy Book: How to Think and Act Strategically to Deliver Outstanding Results |publisher=Pearson |date=2013}}</ref>
  | author = {{Max McKeown/attribution}}
  }}
}}

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== The operational discipline of strategy execution ==

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  | text = Execution is the ability to mesh strategy with reality, align people with goals, and achieve the promised results.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bossidy |first1=Larry |last2=Charan |first2=Ram |title=Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done |publisher=Crown Business |year=2002}}</ref>
  | author = {{Larry Bossidy/attribution}}
  }}
}}

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  | text = Strategy is a commodity, execution is an art.<ref>{{cite web |title=Peter Drucker – Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast |url=https://strategiesforinfluence.com/peter-drucker-coaching-tips/ |website=Strategies for Influence |access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>
  | author = {{Peter Drucker/attribution}}
  }}
}}

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  | text = Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.<ref>{{cite news |title=False dichotomies and the noise before defeat |url=https://strategiccoffee.chriscfox.com/2017/03/the-noise-before-defeat.html |website=StrategicCoffee |date=2017-03-10 |access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>
  | author = {{Sun Tzu/attribution}}
  }}
}}

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  | text = Plans are nothing; planning is everything.<ref>{{cite web |last=Eisenhower |first=Dwight D. |title=Remarks to the National Defense Executive Reserve Conference |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-national-defense-executive-reserve-conference |publisher=The American Presidency Project |date=1957-11-14 |access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>
  | author = {{Dwight D. Eisenhower/attribution}}
  }}
}}

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  | text = The result of bad communication is a disconnection between strategy and execution.<ref>{{cite news |last=Martin |first=Chuck |title=The Result of Bad Communication |url=https://www.medium.com/illumination/management-fix-99880c69c9d9 |publisher=Medium |date=2020-05-01 |access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>
  | author = {{Chuck Martin/attribution}}
  }}
}}

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  | text = Good tactics can save even the worst strategy. Bad tactics will destroy even the best strategy.<ref>{{cite book |last=Patton |first=George S. |title=War As I Knew It |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |date=1947}}</ref>
  | author = {{George S. Patton/attribution}}
  }}
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  | text = Good business planning is 9 parts execution for every 1 part strategy.<ref>{{cite web |last=Berry |first=Tim |title=Good Business Planning Is 9 Parts Execution |url=https://articles.bplans.com/ |publisher=Bplans |date=2008-01-01 |access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>
  | author = {{Tim Berry/attribution}}
  }}
}}

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  | text = Hope is not a strategy.<ref>{{cite web |title=Who Said “Hope Is Not a Strategy”? |url=https://www.yourdictionary.com/articles/hope-not-strategy |website=YourDictionary |date=2020-11-06 |access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>
  | author = {{Vince Lombardi/attribution}}
  }}
}}

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  | text = Vision without execution is hallucination.<ref>{{cite web |title=False dichotomies and the noise before defeat |url=https://strategiccoffee.chriscfox.com/2017/03/the-noise-before-defeat.html |website=StrategicCoffee |date=2017-03-10 |access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>
  | author = {{Thomas Edison/attribution}}
  }}
}}

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  | text = Without strategy, execution is aimless. Without execution, strategy is useless.<ref>{{cite news |title=Without Strategy, Execution Is Aimless |url=https://www.utahbusiness.com/industry/2025/08/05/nonprofits-passion-strategy-maximize-impact/ |publisher=Utah Business |date=2025-08-05 |access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>
  | author = {{Morris Chang/attribution}}
  }}
}}

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  | text = If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.<ref>{{cite web |title=Misquotes and Memes: Did Ben Franklin REALLY Say That? |url=https://news.web.baylor.edu/news/story/2015/misquotes-and-memes-did-ben-franklin-really-say |website=Baylor University Media |date=2015-07-01 |access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>
  | author = {{Benjamin Franklin/attribution}}
  }}
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  | text = However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.<ref>{{cite web |title=Quotes Falsely Attributed to Winston Churchill |url=https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/quotes/quotes-falsely-attributed/ |website=International Churchill Society |access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>
  | author = {{Winston Churchill/attribution}}
  }}
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  | text = Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.<ref>{{cite book |last=Drucker |first=Peter F. |title=The Effective Executive |publisher=Harper & Row |date=1967}}</ref>
  | author = {{Peter Drucker/attribution}}
  }}
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== Organizational culture and leadership as strategic drivers ==

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  | text = Culture eats strategy for breakfast.<ref>{{cite web |title=Quote Origin: Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast |url=https://quoteinvestigator.com/2017/05/23/culture-eats/ |website=Quote Investigator |date=2017-05-23 |access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>
  | author = (attributed) {{Peter Drucker/attribution}}
  }}
}}

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  | text = If we win the hearts and minds of employees, we’re going to have better business success.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Quotable Mary Barra |url=https://chiefexecutive.net/the-quotable-mary-barra/ |publisher=Chief Executive |date=2014-01-22 |access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>
  | author = {{Mary Barra/attribution}}
  }}
}}

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  | text = Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Tichy |first1=Noel |last2=Charan |first2=Ram |title=Speed, Simplicity, and Self-Confidence: An Interview with Jack Welch |url=https://hbr.org/1996/09/speed-simplicity-and-self-confidence-an-interview-with-jack-welch |magazine=Harvard Business Review |date=1989-09-01 |access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>
  | author = {{Jack Welch/attribution}}
  }}
}}

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  | text = No matter how brilliant your mind or strategy, if you’re playing a solo game, you’ll always lose out to a team.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hoffman |first1=Reid |last2=Casnocha |first2=Ben |title=The Startup of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career |publisher=Crown Business |year=2012}}</ref>
  | author = {{Reid Hoffman/attribution}}
  }}
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  | text = Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bennis |first=Warren |title=On Becoming a Leader |publisher=Addison-Wesley |year=1989}}</ref>
  | author = {{Warren Bennis/attribution}}
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  | text = Do every job you’re in like you’re going to do it for the rest of your life, and demonstrate that ownership of it.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Quotable Mary Barra |url=https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/quotable-mary-barra |publisher=Stanford Graduate School of Business |date=2015-05-18 |access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>
  | author = {{Mary Barra/attribution}}
  }}
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  | text = Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.<ref>{{cite news |title=Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine |url=https://www.magnoliapictures.com/stevejobsthemaninthemachine |publisher=Magnolia Pictures |date=2015-09-04 |access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>
  | author = {{Steve Jobs/attribution}}
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  | text = Strategy is not a solo sport, even if you’re the CEO.<ref>{{cite book |last=McKeown |first=Max |title=The Strategy Book |publisher=Pearson |year=2012}}</ref>
  | author = {{Max McKeown/attribution}}
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  | text = The best CEOs I know are teachers, and at the core of what they teach is strategy.<ref>{{cite web |title=Michael Porter – Five Forces Analysis |url=https://strategiesforinfluence.com/michael-porter-coaching-tips/ |website=Strategies for Influence |access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>
  | author = {{Michael Porter/attribution}}
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  | text = A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all.<ref>{{cite book |last=LeBoeuf |first=Michael |title=How to Win Customers and Keep Them for Life |publisher=Putnam |year=1987}}</ref>
  | author = {{Michael LeBoeuf/attribution}}
  }}
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  | text = Ideally, we want to move from people needing Windows to choosing Windows to loving Windows.<ref>{{cite news |author=Paresh Dave |title=Microsoft hopes computer users show some love for Windows 10 |url=https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-windows-10-main-20150727-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |date=2015-07-26 |access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>
  | author = {{Satya Nadella/attribution}}
  }}
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  | text = If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.<ref>{{cite book |last=Berra |first=Yogi |title=The Yogi Book: I Really Didn’t Say Everything I Said! |publisher=Workman Publishing |date=1998}}</ref>
  | author = {{Yogi Berra/attribution}}
  }}
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== Strategic adaptability and innovation in uncertain environments ==

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  | text = It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.<ref>{{cite web |title=Who Said “Hope Is Not a Strategy”? |url=https://www.yourdictionary.com/articles/hope-not-strategy |website=YourDictionary |date=2020-11-06 |access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>
  | author = {{Charles Darwin/attribution}}
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  | text = The biggest risk is not taking any risk... the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.<ref>{{cite web |last=Zuckerberg |first=Mark |title=Mark Zuckerberg at Startup School 2011 |url=https://www.ycombinator.com/library/5x-mark-zuckerberg-at-startup-school-2011 |publisher=Y Combinator |date=2011-10-22 |access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>
  | author = {{Mark Zuckerberg/attribution}}
  }}
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  | text = A pivot is a change in strategy without a change in vision.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ries |first=Eric |title=The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses |publisher=Crown Business |year=2011}}</ref>
  | author = {{Eric Ries/attribution}}
  }}
}}

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  | text = You have to be fast on your feet and adaptive or else a strategy is useless.<ref>{{cite web |title=Charles de Gaulle Quotes – Fast and Adaptive |url=https://quotefancy.com/quote/945620/Charles-de-Gaulle-You-have-to-be-fast-on-your-feet-and-adaptive-or-else-a-strategy-is |website=QuoteFancy |access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>
  | author = {{Charles de Gaulle/attribution}}
  }}
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  | text = You must always be able to predict what’s next and then have the flexibility to evolve.<ref>{{cite web |title=Marc Benioff Quotes |url=https://www.salesforce.com/ceo/ |publisher=Salesforce |access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>
  | author = {{Marc Benioff/attribution}}
  }}
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  | text = If you cannot fail, you cannot learn.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ries |first=Eric |title=The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses |publisher=Crown Business |year=2011}}</ref>
  | author = {{Eric Ries/attribution}}
  }}
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  | text = We are stubborn on vision. We are flexible on details.<ref>{{cite news |title=Jeff Bezos on Innovation: Stubborn on Vision, Flexible on Details |url=https://www.geekwire.com/2011/amazons-bezos-innovation/ |publisher=GeekWire |date=2011-06-17 |access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>
  | author = {{Jeff Bezos/attribution}}
  }}
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  | text = You build your own strategy. You don’t define it by what another competitor is doing.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ginni Rometty: You Build Your Own Strategy |url=https://consultinnotek.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/June24-Digital-Newsletter.pdf |publisher=Consultinnotek |date=2024-06-01 |access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>
  | author = {{Ginni Rometty/attribution}}
  }}
}}

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  | text = Our industry does not respect tradition — it only respects innovation.<ref>{{cite web |title=Satya Nadella email to employees on first day as CEO |url=https://news.microsoft.com/2014/02/04/satya-nadella-email-to-employees-on-first-day-as-ceo/ |website=Microsoft News |date=2014-02-04 |access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>
  | author = {{Satya Nadella/attribution}}
  }}
}}

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  | text = Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.<ref>{{cite web |title=John D. Rockefeller – Quotes |url=https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_D._Rockefeller |website=Wikiquote |access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>
  | author = {{John D. Rockefeller/attribution}}
  }}
}}

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  | text = Rowing harder doesn't help if the boat is headed in the wrong direction<ref>{{cite book |last=Ohmae |first=Kenichi |title=The Mind of the Strategist: The Art of Japanese Business |publisher=McGraw-Hill |year=1982}}</ref>
  | author = {{Kenichi Ohmae/attribution}}
  }}
}}

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  | text = In strategy, it is important to see distant things as if they were close and to take a distanced view of close things.<ref>{{cite book |last=Musashi |first=Miyamoto |title=The Book of Five Rings |translator=Victor Harris |publisher=Overlook Press |year=1974}}</ref>
  | author = {{Miyamoto Musashi/attribution}}
  }}
}}

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  | text = The best marketing strategy is to destroy your industry before your competition does.<ref>{{cite web |last=Godin |first=Seth |title=The Best Marketing Strategy |url=https://seths.blog/ |publisher=Seth's Blog |date=2008-01-01 |access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>
  | author = {{Seth Godin/attribution}}
  }}
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  | text = My definition of ‘innovative’ is providing value to the customer.<ref>{{cite news |title=Top 10 Influential Business Leaders That Are Changing The World |url=https://www.industryleadersmagazine.com/top-10-influential-business-leaders-that-are-changing-the-world/ |publisher=Industry Leaders Magazine |date=2021-03-15 |access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>
  | author = {{Mary Barra/attribution}}
  }}
}}

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  | text = The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence; it is to act with yesterday's logic.<ref>{{cite news |author=Barbara Lorsbach |title=Avoiding Groupthink in the Boardroom |url=https://trustees.aha.org/avoiding-groupthink-boardroom |work=AHA Trustee Insights |date=2023 |access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>
  | author = {{Peter Drucker/attribution}}
  }}
}}

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