"Live within your budget. Look for things that you can do better."
This is one of my favorite quotes from Kelleher. First because it directly relates to the upheavals we're going through in business at this time, and second, it gets you away from the idea that simply throwing money at something takes care of the problem.
If we must live within a budget, and everybody does, then it's a great discipliner in getting you to get creative and innovative in finding answers.
It's surprising how quickly our minds kick in to think of ways to solve problems when we must work within monetary limits. Many times people don't try to get too creative when throwing money at something can alleviate the issue over a short period of time.
All that does of course is prolong the problem, and does nothing to draw on the insights our people have.
Not only is it important to work within financial limits in difficult, uncertain times like we're operating in now, but it's also a great motivator to workers to be given the challenge of solving the problem with what we've got, not what we wish we had.
Limited budgets aren't important only for the bottom line, they're also great tools to get people thinking of answers within given parameters.
This doesn't mean we are to be cheap in the tools that we need to get the job done, just that we run lean and operate in a way that gets our people to dig for answers and solutions outside of enlarging the budget.
Money is never the differentiator in the minds of our customers, neither can it be the difference in developing new products and services. About all it can do is allow room to make bigger mistakes; which has some value, but not much.
It also can allow us to do a little more research and development and attempt more things. But again, the answer isn't the money, but in getting our people engaged and providing answers and ideas. That's something money can't buy.
Other Herb Kelleher Sources:
Leadership: The Essential Herb Kelleher
Speeches and Presentations from Southwest Leaders
Southwest Airlines: The Hottest Thing in the Sky
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