[Outliers] Fred Smith: The Story of FedEx
10 Lessons From Fred Smith, the founder of FedEx
1. Not trying guarantees failure: Fred Smith spent his childhood in leg braces. Doctors said he’d never walk normally. Through thousands of hours of excruciating therapy, he didn’t just walk; he became a varsity athlete. “Fear of failure must never be a reason not to try... See more
Shane Parrishx.comI don’t think he’s ever told the story, but it’s worth telling. When we were selling @Behance to Adobe many years ago, @scottbelsky made a spreadsheet of every employee (32 of us at the time) and personally negotiated each persons title, salary and incentive structure, and made that part of the overall deal terms. I heard the phone calls where he... See more
William Allenx.comMy guess is that Amazon’s success is a byproduct, a side-effect of a process driven, flexible, in-the-moment way of being. In the famous 1997 letter to shareholders, which lays out Amazon’s philosophy, Bezos says that their process is simple: a “relentless focus on customers.” This is not a goal to be strived for, worked towards, achieved, and
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