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"The motto 'innovate or die' held true for American firms in the 20th century. In the 21st century, 'innovate faster, better, and cheaper—or die' will be your new mantra. Indeed, in today's hypercompetitive, ber-connected, and globally integrated economy, you need to crank out new products faster than you can spell 'R&D,' or else your customers will switch their allegiance to more agile rivals. Plus, your products need to deliver more value to customers—value no longer being defined by the bells and whistles in your product, but by the experience customers get from using your product. Finally, given the rapidly-shrinking purchasing power of the American middle class, your products got to be affordable to meet the frugal needs of thrifty US buyers. In sum, you need to innovate faster, better, and cheaper. Sadly, Corporate America is just not equipped to do that."
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"Alan Mulally arrived in Dearborn like a Kansas cyclone, ripping through Ford's dark-paneled corridors like a twister through a trailer park. He would take a sledgehammer to the automaker's ossified silos, force long-time adversaries to kiss and make-up and challenge Ford's most cherished delusions. Over the next three years, he would also make Ford the most profitable automaker in the world. Mulally would do it as the rest of the American automobile industry fell apart in the face of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. And he would do it without taking a government bailout."
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"After a lot of thought, it's pretty apparent to me what the most valuable overall skill is for future CEOs and world changers—the ability to tell a story. We live in a world where we are sold to hundreds of times a day and have become ridiculously blind to those trying to sell us something. But we're always up for a good story. Storytelling is what made us love the advertisements in magazines that, as children, we would rip out and put on our walls and asleep under with inspired awe. Stories are the most powerful form of inspiration and persuasion in the world."
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"Let's start by gazing in the mirror. The looking glass never lies, and it reflects two things about our beloved country:
We have allowed ourselves to become paralyzed.
And, worse, we are so used to being poorly led that we refuse to lead ourselves.
How did we let this state of affairs happen to us? Well, to begin with, we haven't chosen the right leaders for the right times—and that used to be our talent.
Could these times be any more uncertain? Imagine piloting the ship of state through all the global and domestic cross currents we face today. Leadership in uncertain times must be different than when the path is clear."
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"Think about it: in one short year, the power of collective hearts and minds has toppled dictators, turned out corrupt and dysfunctional governments, brought moral accountability to media and corporate abuses, and given the financial institutions a worldwide wedgie in the form of Occupy Wall Street. There's no denying it—we're knee-deep in an era of radical change that may well transform the way our world works.
I, for one, am thrilled to see the "public interest" back in the conversation. Yes, it's back in a messy, kind of unwieldy, shape-shifting way, but it is back."
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