Thought of the fortnight: ‘What is your favourite inspirational quote and why?’
Number 7 in a series of blogs composed from a range of members’ experiences, ideas and opinions ‘crowd-sourced’ on a specific fortnightly topic.
Posted by AHUA Office on
In number 7 of our ‘Thought of the Fortnight’ series, we wanted to capture inspiring quotes, words of wisdom and meaningful provocations that have resonated with our members. In our equivalent of an Instagram feed with inspirational quotes, we caught a range of mantras that have had an impact on members both professionally and personally. We asked the question ‘‘What is your favourite inspirational quote and why?’ and here are some of their responses.
“The smart thing for me to do was to take another drink and forget the whole mess.”– Raymond Chandler’s ‘The Big Sleep’ (1939)
It establishes the persona of my favourite fictional hero, Philip Marlowe.
“Let’s work the problem, people – let’s not make things worse by guessing.” – Gene Kranz, played by Ed Harris in Apollo 13 (1995)
Always reminds me of how important it is to analyse and understand the real problem, rather than leaping to solutions
“The way to get things done is not to mind who gets the credit for doing them.” Benjamin Jowett
“The culture of an organisation is defined by the least acceptable behaviour the organisation is willing to tolerate.” – Gruenert and Whitaker, School Culture Rewired (2015).
I like it because, while crafted to explore learning environments, it applies deeply and widely to a huge range of organisational cultures and professional leadership environments. It talks about values, discipline and consistency and challenges us to universally role model the right behaviours and call out those around us (including upwardly) who fail to reinforce and showcase that culture.
“The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”
Attributed to Steve Jobs and I guess it’s a bit of a cliché to quote him but I love this. It encourages the sense of being brave and aspirational and stretching the art of the possible. More than that though, it draws a link between change makers and flawed personalities. Speaking as someone who is neurodiverse I know that I link my diversity with some of my ambition.
“Do not judge me by my success, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.” – Nelson Mandela
Always full of wisdom for every occasion, Nelson Mandela was someone who never felt a need to show off about his power, wealth or success and instead talked about his survival and perseverance in the face of injustice.
“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” – Aristotle.
As well as promoting the power of education it also encourages a little subversiveness!
And finally, a quotation and an explanation of its specific relevant to AHUA and our members:
“When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this: you haven’t“
Said by Thomas Edison and something I have to remind myself of regularly! AHUA members are fantastic problem solvers and we do have it in us to find solutions, particularly when we use our networks and membership community to help us.
