Thomas J. Watson Quotes

1874–1956 United States

Thomas John Watson, Sr. (February 17, 1874 – June 19, 1956) was the president of International Business Machines (IBM), who oversaw that company's growth into an international force from the 1920s to the 1950s.

United States
Businesspeople
Methodists

Also known as: Watson, Thomas J.

Random Thomas J. Watson quote

8 quotes

Nothing so conclusively proves a man's ability to lead others as what he does from day to day to lead himself.

Watson (1939)

If you want to succeed, double your failure rate.

to Watson in: Roger von Oech (1982)

Follow the path of the unsafe, independent thinker. Expose your ideas to the danger of controversy. Speak your mind and fear less the label of "crackpot" than the stigma of conformity.

The toughest thing about the power of trust is that it's very difficult to build and very easy to destroy. The essence of trust building is to emphasize the similarities between you and the customer.

If you want to achieve excellence, you can get there today. As of this second, quit doing less than excellent work.

to Watson in: William G. Dickerson (1995)

A man is known by the company he keeps. A company is known by the men it keeps.

I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.

Misattributed

All the problems of the world could be settled easily if men were only willing to think. The trouble is that men very often resort to all sorts of devices in order not to think, because thinking is such hard work.

Misattributed

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Thomas J. Watson (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.