Lou Gerstner Quotes

#1. If the practices and processes inside a company don't drive the execution of values, then people don't get it. The question is, do you create a culture of behavior and action that really demonstrates those values and a reward system for those who adhere to them?

Lou Gerstner

#2. It is not about bits, bytes and protocols, but profits, losses and margins.

Lou Gerstner

#3. We built this company from the customer back, not from the company out.

Lou Gerstner

#4. I think values are really, really important, but I also think that too many values are just words.

Lou Gerstner

#5. No institution will go through fundamental change unless it believes it is in deep trouble and needs to do something different to survive.

Lou Gerstner

#6. The rewards system is a powerful driver of behavior and therefore culture.

Lou Gerstner

#7. For the first month, I listened, and I tried very hard not to draw conclusions

Lou Gerstner

#8. I have always believed you cannot run a successful enterprise from behind a desk.

Lou Gerstner

#9. Customer complaints are the schoolbooks from which we learn.

Lou Gerstner

#10. Lou Gerstner knows how to do a deal, and George Bush Sr., less so.

Lou Gerstner

#11. I just think we should look at this as a chess match," he said, "between the world's greatest chess player and Garry Kasparov.

Lou Gerstner

#12. I came to see, in my time at IBM, that culture isn't just one aspect of the game; it is the game

Lou Gerstner

#13. Everything starts with the customer.

Lou Gerstner

#14. IBM needed - an enormous sense of urgency.

Lou Gerstner

#15. You don't get points for predicting rain. You get points for building arks.

Lou Gerstner

#16. The last thing IBM needs right now is a vision.

Lou Gerstner

#17. I look for people who work to solve problems and help colleagues, I sack politicians.

Lou Gerstner

#18. The thing I have learned at IBM is that culture is everything.

Lou Gerstner