Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

From the Quotation of the day mailing list, 2016-05-20:

"Contrast the "maximize shareholder value" idea with John F. Kennedy's famous 1961 call to "put a man on the moon and return him safely by the end of the decade." Simple? Yes. Unexpected? Yes. Concrete? Amazingly so. Credible? The goal seemed like science fiction but the source was credible. Emotional? Yes. Story? In miniature.

"Had John F. Kennedy been a CEO, he would have said, "Our mission is to become the international leader in the space industry through maximum team-centered innovation and strategically targeted aerospace initiatives." Fortunately, JFK was more intuitive than a modern-day CEO; he knew that opaque, abstract missions don't captivate and inspire people. The moon mission was a classic case of a communicator's dodging the Curse of Knowledge. It was a brilliant and beautiful idea -- a single idea that motivated the actions of millions of people for a decade."

-- Chip and Dan Heath, from their book Made to Stick.

(submitted to the mailing list by Terry Labach)