Sam Atkinson > Quotes

“You cannot lead from the crowd.”
― Sam Atkinson, The Business Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

“Self-identity has become problematic for the individual in ways that are historically unprecedented, and the consequence is a cycle of endless self-questioning and introspection that serves only to confound the individual even more. Ultimately, the result is that our experience of ourselves and everyday life is increasingly played out against a backdrop of ongoing anxiety, restlessness, and unease about who we are, our place in the world, and the rapidity of the changes taking place around us.”
― Sam Atkinson, The Sociology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

“With functional uniqueness being so elusive, marketing guru Philip Kotler suggested that firms focus instead on an Emotional Selling Proposition (ESP). In other words, that the task of marketing is to generate an emotional connection to the brand that is so strong that customers perceive difference from the competition.”
― Sam Atkinson, The Business Book

“if the idea can’t survive a spirited argument, the marketplace will surely kill it.”
― Sam Atkinson, The Business Book

“successful entrepreneurs are those who are not only willing to take risks, but are also able to manage risk.”
― Sam Atkinson, The Business Book

“In a liquid modern life, there are no permanent bonds, and any that we take up… must be tied loosely so that they can be untied… when circumstances change." Zygmunt Bauman”
― Sam Atkinson, The Sociology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

“without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.”
― Sam Atkinson, The Business Book

“Men and women face choices and constraints that differ significantly from those faced by their counterparts in previous eras because of the contradiction between the demands of relationships of any kind (family, marriage, motherhood, fatherhood) and the demands of the workplace for mobile, flexible employees. These choices and constraints are responsible for pulling families apart. Rather than being shaped by the rules, traditions, and rituals of previous eras, Beck and Beck-Gernsheim argue that contemporary family units are experiencing a shift from a “community of need,” where ties and obligations bound us in our intimate lives, to “elective affinities” that are based on choice and personal inclination. In spite of these difficult changes, the lure of the romantic narrative remains strong. In an uncertain society, “stripped of its traditions and scarred by all kinds of risk,” as Beck and Beck-Gernsheim put it, love “will become more important than ever and equally impossible.”
― Sam Atkinson, The Sociology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

“Bruce Tuckman, a US professor of educational psychology, described these stages as forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning.”
― Sam Atkinson, The Business Book

“Industrial processes and… organization have robbed the worker of his craft and its heritage." Harry Braverman”
― Sam Atkinson, The Sociology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

“The only thing worse than starting something and failing … is not starting something." Seth Godin”
― Sam Atkinson, The Business Book

“If you do things well, do them better." Anita Roddick UK entrepreneur (1942–2007)”
― Sam Atkinson, The Business Book

“Reduced to a formula, wealth is hierarchic, smog is democratic. Ulrich Beck”
― Sam Atkinson, The Sociology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

“many firms adopted the Japanese philosophy of kaizen: “continuous improvement of everything, by everyone”.”
― Sam Atkinson, The Business Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

“One method to achieve this is the “5-why” technique, invented in the 1930s by the father of Kiichiro Toyoda, the founder of Toyota, and used by Toyota during the 1970s. By asking “why?” five times, you can move from the symptoms to the root cause of a problem.”
― Sam Atkinson, The Business Book

“Being an effective leader involves recognizing that it is impossible to be right all of the time.”
― Sam Atkinson, The Business Book

“Perceived as a technical performance product, Speedo, for example, needs to ensure that its marketing reflects that view; a campaign that promotes Speedo as fashionable would risk confusing customers and could damage the brand.”
― Sam Atkinson, The Business Book