SIGNS
that click!
By Shah N. Khan |
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In good old days people used to
hang at the place of work, the pictures of Jesus and Mary, kings and queen
or their national leaders and heroes. Many Muslims hang the picture of
Holy Mosques, calligraphy of holy verses, sayings of the Holy Prophet and
his companions for good omen. Hindus in India also believe that hanging
picture of Mythological personalities and Gods help in promoting
business. During Stalin regime in Soviet Union, it was a sort of mandatory
to have a picture of Stalin and Lenin,.whereas in China Mao's pictures
and his sayings used to be placed everywhere.
In the decade of 1950 you could see a little
sign placed on different desks and places in the offices of IBM in
different parts of the world. It was "Think".
Yes, just one word. Those were the days when IBM was setting new records
of growth and expansion.
The Sign hanging in Albert Einstein's office
at Princeton University read:
Not everything that counts can be counted,
and not everything that can be counted
counts.
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Ex-Avis Chief Robert Townsend had a sign
next to his telephone and ofcourse on the desk of his managers. It read:
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"Is what I'm doing, or about to do,
getting us closer to our objective or making us money?"
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British Management Scholar and
trainer John Fenton has been a great fan of the signs. He
had this sign hung on to the back of executive toilet door. He always recommended
to try placing some signs strategically around the place of work. Some
of the sign used by him were:
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| "Nothing
happens until somebody sells something." |
| "Customers
are the business" |
| "Best
managers are the ones who make the best decisions". |
| "There
has to be a better way". |
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Signs, poster, post
cards, stickers and banners besides house journals and memoranda are used
by many organizations to inspire and motivate the workers to do their best
and strive for greater efficiency or profits. A variety of slogans and
signs are used.
"It is better than hanging
the pictures of dead politicians or national heroes". Confided a CEO.
Experience has indicated that
they help in improving conscientiousness for efficiency and productivity.
But the old often repeated signs like "Time is money", "Honesty
is the best policy", "A stitch in time saves nine" etc. may not click.
Here are few sign used by some
companies.
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"Customer
is the king."
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"We constantly
strive to be better than the best."
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"In Sales
your altitude depends on your attitude"
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"Plan your
work and work your plan."
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"If you fail
to plan, you are planning failure."
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"Creativity
is ten percent inspiration, and ninety percent perspiration."
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American writers like
Jim
Rhon, Anthony Robbins, Stephen R. Covey and others have provided a
rich field of literature from where one can pick many sayings and inspirational
slogans for place of work. Many publishers have been selling posters, cards,
signs, stickers and other items. Funny or witty stickers for wind shield
of cars are also very popular.
Many web site owners use banners
and email signature to serve as sign or link to attract traffic to their
web site. Amazing designs have been created in plain text for use in email.
A smart slogan or a witty quote, enhances degree of the credibility of
the web site owner. Banners and graphics designed with Java are proving
to be effective. Here are few that inspire.
To do easily what is difficult
for others is the mark of talent.
To do what is impossible for
talent is the mark of genius.
Henri-Frédéric Amiel
(1821–81), Swiss philosopher, poet. |
It is our attitude at the beginning
of a difficult task which, more than
anything else, will affect its
successful outcome. -- William James |
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