The Good Jobs Strategy

these values included “reciprocity,” the principle that to be satisfied, one must first satisfy others; “no one is born knowing,” the principle that the customer needs to be properly informed and that employees need to be trained correctly; and “how you measure me is how I behave,” the principle that if a company trains its employees to become money-making machines, they will behave as such

Creativity thrives best when constrained.

When things get complicated, we simplify by asking what’s the best for the customer

having a simple set of values for a company was also a very efficient and expedient way to go. And I’ll tell you why. Because if somebody makes a proposal and it infringes on those values, you don’t study it for two years. You just say, “No, we don’t do that.” And you go on quickly. So I think that contributes to efficiency.

We will gradually eliminate time-wasting activities—surfing the Web and hanging out in other people’s offices for long chats. We will be more careful to prioritize and to do the high-priority things first. We might actually become more productive.

, it is a long-term strategy. A 100 percent commitment saves you from being blown off course, which can so easily happen. Second, it is an innovation strategy. You can’t do the obvious thing, so you have to think of something else.

Sustaining the good jobs strategy requires sticking to values 100 percent of the time.

maintain its culture and high standards, it staffs 50 percent of its new stores with employees from existing markets and pays their relocation costs.

what it was like to represent UPS, to be UPS

how excited she was to get that job because she knew that she was the last person the customer would deal with