“Employing superstars is fine, but the team is far more important than individual stars.”

“The challenge of business leaders is to build a peak performing team that is much more than just a group of individuals under one roof.”

“Managers are coming to realize that the people who are best equipped to make decisions in the sections are those who work in them. With team members themselves involved in making decisions, the role of the manager changes. To extract peak performance from teams of people in the new world of business, managers have to be leaders, rather than jus supervisors.”

“The teams themselves are changing to business units that, instead of simply following orders, accept their function and add value for the customer. Teams are often cross-functional, following the realities of the business, not limited to just their own territory. For us to be competitive our teams have to be equally fluid, ready to adapt as soon as the need arises.”

“Planning has to be an over-arching function that includes the entire business, not just a section. Sales, purchasing, design, production, finance: all have to be working from the same page.”

“Successful change from the bureaucratic to the co-operative can be gauged by looking at three elements: the rational, the emotional and the political.”

“The period of renewal during the transformation phase should lead to a culture that is always ready to adapt. In such an organization, management support the learning of individuals and a culture of learning and personal growth develops.”

“The final result is the revitalization of the entire organization. The changes can be dramatic. New business may be invented. The very rules of how the business competes may change. At this point, you do not have to tell the people working in the business that the organization has been transformed – everyone can see it”.

“The un-knowns facing business fall into two categories the known un-knowns and the un-known un-knowns. The known un-knowns are variable factors of which you are aware. In the mining business, next year’s or next month’s gold price is a known un-known. Changes to the exchange rates fall into much the same category, affecting everyone, but particularly importers and exporters. We know they are going to change. We do not know how much or in which direction.

“The known un-knowns should be easier to deal with than the un-known un-knowns. Into this category fall changes like those that have affected farming in the last 20 years. Under the old system the agricultural boards removed the commercial uncertainty of farming. Today both the weather and the state of the market are uncertainties facing farmers.”

“The first thing we have to accept is that perhaps half of all un-knowns are beyond our control. What we must do, is see to it that we have made provision for the other half”