Great Work Quotes

“Call it what you will, it’s about getting up off your chair, going where the action is, and seeing things firsthand. Because when we see things for ourselves, with our own two eyes, it changes us.”
― David Sturt, Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love

“The guiding mantra for connecting is this: it’s just a conversation.”
― David Sturt, Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love

“The truth is, we can’t see what we aren’t looking at.”
― David Sturt, Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love

“That’s the thing about deciding that we want to make a difference for other – our work becomes incredibly personal. Ordinary is no longer an option because we are bringing our own history and know-how to the work itself. It reflects a piece of us.”
― David Sturt, Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love

“The door to your own great work quest is about to swing wide open.”
― David Sturt, Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love

“You know things; you understand things. You have a history and a work life unlike anyone else’s. Respect it. Pay attention to it. Let it inspire curious ponderings and original thinking.”
― David Sturt, Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love

“I think it’s the difference between working with your head down and with your head up. You need to look at everything going on around your job so that your eyes are open to possibilities. If you look at how your work affects others, at how relationships work, at what others want and need, you will see things you don’t see when you are just going through the motions.”
― David Sturt, Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love

“There are times when those around us just won’t get what we’re trying to accomplish… at those times, it’s our own passion, commitment, and sense of doability that tell us that we’ve landed on a difference worth making.”
― David Sturt, Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love

“Difference makers know how to work loose, to model, fine-tune, and play with ideas before they execute them to find changes that are likely to succeed.”
― David Sturt, Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love

“People who deliver unexpected value don’t just go around improving things willy-nilly every time an idea pops into their heads. They look before they leap. They think before they do…. They create changes mentally before they create them for real.”
― David Sturt, Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love

“When we engage people in conversations about great work, we’re not asking them to solve a problem for us. We’re not selling something, nor are we asking for some kind of handout. What we’re really doing is inviting them to participate with us in the shared enjoyment of making a difference.”
― David Sturt, Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love

“Grade A objectivity won’t come from those who are closest to us. It will come from outsiders. That’s where we’ll find divergent thinking, unexpected questions, novel ideas, differences of opinion, and added expertise.”
― David Sturt, Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love

“Change is the catalyst of life and, likewise, the catalyst for all great work.”
― David Sturt, Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love

“Conversations with people we don’t usually talk to lead to ideas we wouldn’t think of on our own.”
― David Sturt, Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love

“Understanding requires our own observation. Solutions frequently come in the form of mental pictures. The only prescription is to get out and use our eyes to see how things work.”
― David Sturt, Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love

“We’ve all got crazy ideas that tickle and nag. Let’s turn up the volume on these great work muses. Allow them to germinate, mature and grow.”
― David Sturt, Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love

“The truth is, when we see ourselves as a box on somebody’s org chart, we’re miscalculating our own potential.”
― David Sturt, Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love

“We have the ability to insist on doing something great – something people will love and appreciate.”
― David Sturt, Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love

“The important thing is to not assume that good is good enough, because even good things can always, always find a way to get better.”
― David Sturt, Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love

“While good work, crucial as it is, sets our attention on execution and delivery, great work sets our attention on benefiting others.”
― David Sturt, Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love

“Great Work begins when we take the time to ask if there’s something new the world would love.”
― David Sturt, Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love

“Difference making, by its very nature, is the art of taking something good and making it better. It’s an act of fine-tuning, improving, and refining, not starting from zero.”
― David Sturt, Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love

“Thinking of the good our work can do for others, beyond our daily to-do list, helps us change how we do what we do in ways that add meaning to our work.”
― David Sturt, Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love

“Job crafters are those who do what’s expected (because it’s required) and then find a way to add something new to their work. Something that delights. Something that benefits both the giver and the receiver.”
― David Sturt, Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love

“Anyone can be a difference maker.”
― David Sturt, Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love

“Moses was good at his job. He was efficient. He was always busy making the room clean. But at the same time, he could read the family’s emotions. He never made a medical diagnosis or overstepped the bounds of his position. But he shared a lot of practical, commonsense wisdom gleaned from helping hundreds of families make it through traumatic surgery. Moses reinforced the good: “You’re sitting up today; that’s a good boy.” He offered encouragement: “You’re brave. You’re strong. You can do it.” He gave practical advice: “You’ve been through a lot, but you’re coming through it now. Your body knows what to do. Just rest and let it do it.” Matt and Mindi looked forward to visits from Moses because as he made their hospital room clean, he also gave them hope.”
― David Sturt, Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love DIGITAL AUDIO

“A fixed mindset causes people to fear failure; they don’t want to try anything that might damage their current sense of ability and intelligence. Their self-worth and identity are wrapped up in not making a mistake, so they gravitate to fail-safe activities. People with growth mindsets, on the other hand, seek out challenges and activities that expand their abilities. The fixed mindset seeks sameness and validation; the growth mindset seeks learning and adaptation.”
― David Sturt, Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love

“Difference makers not only stay engaged until a difference is made, but follow the results of their work…. They insist on knowing what worked and why, ….[they] follow up, gather insights, gain sensitivity and understanding, and make connections between changes in the mix and differences that were loved.”
― David Sturt, Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love

“People who do great work have a different set of criteria for declaring a job complete: whereas the typical definition of complete is “the work is done,” the great work definition of complete is “a difference is made”.”
― David Sturt, Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love

“Our ability to see the impact of changes before we make them is an important part of being human. Every new discovery…. is the result of someone first imagining a new way to delight others and then bringing that vision into reality.”
― David Sturt, Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love