Neverisms

Never “tell it like it is” in company meetings.MARK GAUTHIER, advising Westerners,

in his 1993 book Making It in Japan

Gauthier, an American travel writer, added: “Speaking your mind and gushing out frank statements displays immaturity and is bad for group harmony.” He also wrote:

Never visit a Japanese company without tons of business cards.

Basically, no “meishi” (business cards) means no existence for you on this earth.

Never fail to astonish the customer.MARGARET GETCHELL

This statement, which is now a staple of customer-service seminars, was originally authored by Getchell as part of a motto for employees of Macy’s Department Store. Getchell, the niece of the founder of Macy’s and his first store manager, was the first woman in retailing history to be promoted to an executive position. She was also an ardent believer in customer service. The complete motto went this way: “Be everywhere, do everything, and never fail to astonish the customer.”

Never try to make all the money that’s in a deal.J. PAUL GETTY, quoting his father

Getty’s father added: “Let the other fellow make some money too, because if you have a reputation for always making all the money, you won’t have many deals.”

Never confuse a hunch with a hope.MAX GUNTHER, in The Zurich Axioms (1985)

After graduating from Princeton University in 1949 and serving a two-year stint in the army, Gunther worked as a writer and editor at Business Week and Time before embarking on a career as a freelance writer. In addition to writing magazine articles, he wrote nearly a dozen books on a variety of subjects before coming out with The Zurich Axioms in 1985. A compilation of investment secrets Gunther had learned from his father, a longtime investment strategist for the Swiss Bank Corporation, the book became a surprise bestseller. Many axioms were expressed neveristically:

Never make a move if you are merely optimistic.

Never lose sight of the possibility that you have made a bad bet.

Never hesitate to abandon a venture

if something more attractive comes into view.

Never follow speculative fads.

Often, the best time to buy something is when nobody else wants it.

Never ignore a gut feeling: but never believe that it’s enough on its own.ROBERT HELLER, in The Super Managers (1984)

Never hire or promote in your own image.

It is foolish to replicate your strength and idiotic to replicate your weakness.DEE W. HOCK, founder and CEO emeritus

of Visa International

For more than twenty years, Hock has been advocating a “chaordic” approach to life and work, a philosophy that attempts to blend chaotic and ordered into one word—and one business philosophy. In his 2000 book Birth of the Chaordic Age, he also wrote:

Never confuse activity with productivity.

It’s what comes out the other end of the pipe that’s important,

not what you push into it.

Never borrow money unless you can get it paid back.H. L. HUNT

When oil tycoon H. L. Hunt’s sons—William and Bunker Hunt—assumed an enormous debt burden in their failed 1980 attempt to corner the silver market, William was asked about his father’s advice. He replied ruefully, “I guess I didn’t listen well enough.”

Never let your memories be greater than your dreams.DOUGLAS IVESTER, former CEO of Coca-Cola

Never fear the want of business.

A man who qualifies himself well for his calling

never fails of employment in it.THOMAS JEFFERSON, in a 1792 letter to Peter Carr,

using the word want in the sense of lack

Never play by the rules. Never pay in cash. And never tell the truth.F. ROSS JOHNSON, on “The Three Rules of Wall Street”

Johnson, who enjoyed his reputation as a ruthless businessman, said this while serving as CEO of RJR Nabisco in the 1980s. Johnson was featured in the 1990 bestseller Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco, by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar. The book was made into a 1993 HBO film, with James Garner in the role of Johnson.

Never acquire a business you don’t know how to run.ROBERT W. JOHNSON, founder of Johnson & Johnson

Never be intimidated by male bravado.CATHERINE KAPUTA, in her 2009 book The Female Brand:

Using the Female Mindset to Succeed in Business

Never value anybody based on position and title alone.HERB KELLEHER, citing a lesson from his mother

Kelleher, the founder of Southwest Airlines, said this in his Charles A. Lindbergh Memorial Lecture, delivered at the Smithsonian Institution’s Air and Space Museum in 2008. In 1943, the twelve-year-old Kelleher’s father passed away, and shortly after that his older brother joined the army and his sister took a job in New York City. Left alone in their New Jersey home, Herb and his mother formed an extremely close-knit bond. He once said, “We would stay up till three, four, five in the morning, talking about business, politics, ethics.” She offered this lesson late one night when they discussed the embezzlement conviction of one of their town’s most distinguished citizens—a local bank president noted for strolling up and down the street in a regal way.

Never meet anybody after two for lunch.

Meet in the morning because you’re sharper.JOSEPH P. KENNEDY

The patriarch of the Kennedy clan went on to add: “Never have long lunches. They’re not only boring, but dangerous because of the martinis.”

Never take a job that has no “in” box.HENRY KISSINGER, on ceremonial appointments

A job that has no “in” box is a position that never receives requests for help or is never relied on for getting things done—and is, according to Kissinger, a job to be