Status “Quo-table”

ColoradoBiz Staff //April 21, 2011//

Status “Quo-table”

ColoradoBiz Staff //April 21, 2011//

By Deborah Williams

“The more things change, the more they
remain the same.” How many times have we heard that? It’s practically part of our vocabulary! And, how many people have any idea it was a French journalist and novelist Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr who first said it in 1849?
In fact, much of what Denver’s business community is gathering in April to partake in and discover isn’t necessarily new. We have been wrestling with many of the same things for at least a few hundred years. See for yourself. Compare previous wisdom to the conference topics below.

Financing in a tight money environment

“Can anybody remember when the times weren’t hard and money not scarce?”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 – 1882)

“A fool and his money are soon parted. What I want to know is how they got together in the first place.”
– Cyril Fletcher (1913 – 2005)

“If you would know the value of money, go and try to borrow some.”
– Benjamin Franklin (1706 – 1790)

“When a man is going to try and borrow money, it is wise to look prosperous.”
-Benjamin Disraeli (1804 – 1881)
Rapidly growing companies: What are
they doing differently?

“The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls looking like hard work.” – Thomas Edison (1847 – 1931)

“My formula for success? Rise early, work late, strike oil.” – Jean Paul Getty (1892 – 1976)

“Success is simply a matter of luck. Ask any failure.” – Earl Wilson 1907 – 1987)

Creating balance in uncertain times

”Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do, and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.” 
 – General George Patton (1885 – 1995)

“The right people (need to be) in the right jobs.” – Otto von Bismark (1815 – 1898))

“Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.”
– Oscar Wilde (1854 – 1900)

“Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm.” – Publilius Syrus (Maxim 358)

M&A as a continuous strategy: Process, resources and deal making

“The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon, but only to hold a man’s foot long enough to put the other somewhat higher.” – Thomas Huxley (1825 – 1895)

“Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprise.”
– Demosthenes (383 B.C.E. – 321 B.C.E.)

“Imagination is more important than knowledge” – Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955)

“A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.”
– Francis Bacon (1561 – 1626)

Customer focus in the new economy

“There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company, from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.”
– Sam Walton (1918 – 1992)

“Give the lady what she wants!”
– Marshall Field (1834 – 1906)

“If a man write a better book, preach a better sermon, or make a better mousetrap than his neighbor, though he build his house in the woods, the world will make a beaten path to his door.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 – 1882)

“In our factory, we make lipstick. In our advertising, we sell hope.” – Charles Revson (1906 – 1975)

Or, let’s look at the 9th Annual Conference theme, Execution as a Competitive Advantage

“Anyone who says businessmen deal in facts, not fiction, has never read old five-year projections.” – Malcolm Forbes (1919 – 1990)

“All mankind is divided into three classes: Those who are immovable; those who are movable; and those who move.”
 – Benjamin Franklin (1706 – 1790)

“Action is the foundational key to all success.” – Pablo Picasso (1871 – 1973)

And lastly, a favorite and why you should make sure you attend the 2011 Rocky Mountain Corporate Growth Conference:

“Showing up is eighty percent of life.”
 – Woody Allen (1935-)

Deborah Williams is president of Design and Image Communications and Marketing Committee chair, 2011 Rocky Mountain Corporate Growth Conference
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