Understanding vs. Mastery

Add comment November 19th, 2007

“People tend to mistake understanding for mastery. Mastery is the ability to execute under pressure.” Ford Harding

“The secret for discovering the ability to focus all of our mental and physical energy on a single task is no secret at all: recall the concentration of a child at play.” Edward Niam

“Necessity may be the mother of invention, but play is certainly the father.” Roger von Oech

“Innovation isn’t what innovators do….it’s what customers and clients adopt.” Michael Schrage

“Most managements tend to define ‘market’ too narrowly. They tend to see it as ‘the market for what we make’ rather than as ‘the value the customer pays for.’ But many managements tend to define ‘technology’ much too broadly. They think it means ‘what we can can intellectually grasp.’ What is really means is ‘what we can do with great skill and high distinction.’”
Peter Drucker from Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, and Practices