Dear All,

I am in the process of compiling a list of useful quotations and motivational sound-bytes relating to information and records management. 

I'd like to share a few with you and cast the net a little wider to see what others you may have come across, or found useful in your own presentations.

Feel free to add to the list - I'll consolidate any feedback and report back shortly,

Best wishes,

Paul

Albert Einstein:

“Know where to find the information and how to use it - That's the secret of success”

“We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

“The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination”

William Pollard:

“Information is a source of learning. But unless it is organised, processed, and available to the right people in a format for decision making, it is a burden, not a benefit.”

Heinz V. Bergen:

“Information is the seed for an idea, and only grows when it's watered.”

Kofi Annan:

“Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family.”

“If information and knowledge are central to democracy, they are the conditions for development.”

Gertrude Stein: (American Writer, among the first to appreciate and collect the works of major artists. 1874-1946)     

“Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense.”

William Gibson: (American writer of science fiction, b.1948)

“It's impossible to move, to live, to operate at any level without leaving traces, bits, seemingly meaningless fragments of personal information.”

Ronald Reagan: (American 40th US President (1981- 89), 1911-2004)

“Information is the oxygen of the modern age. It seeps through the walls topped by barbed wire, it wafts across the electrified borders.”

Dr. George Lundberg:

“Information on the Internet is subject to the same rules and regulations as conversation at a bar.”

 Daniel J. Boorstin:  (American social historian and educator, 1914)

“Technology is so much fun but we can drown in our technology. The fog of information can drive out knowledge.”

 Elbert Hubbard: (American editor, publisher and writer, 1856-1915)

  “It is not deeds or acts that last: it is the written record of those deeds and acts”

 Robert Williams:

“The outstanding challenges associated with managing electronic information assets have the potential to be devastating in terms of professional careers and even corporate reputations. Just look at the impact that deficient records management practices had at Arthur Andersen and Morgan Stanley.”

Roger Erickson

“Some companies would rather not implement a system until they have their entire records management strategy identified, so they can apply different retention periods to different things, like a message from finance vs. a lunch invitation. Very few companies are prepared to roll out an enterprise-wide message categorisation and retention program".

"Most companies realise that using an archive system doesn't lock them into anything, but it does give them the ability to see what they have.”

James Rhyner

“Hurricane Katrina increased law firms' awareness of the importance of proper records retention. One natural disaster can quickly destroy an entire facility, including all of the firms records.

“Law firms that have not developed a good records management policy may fail their clients and be faced with a costly liability lawsuit. Proper documentation is part of the foundation of the legal profession”.

 Peter F. Drucker  (American Educator and Writer, b.1909)

“Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.”

“So much of what we call management consists in making it difficult for people to work”

Paul Hawken:

 “Good management is the art of making problems so interesting and their solutions so constructive that everyone wants to get to work and deal with them.”

Colin Powell:  (Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff (1989-93). At present, US Secretary of State, 1937)

“Organisation doesn't really accomplish anything. Plans don't accomplish anything, either. Theories of management don't much matter. Endeavours succeed or fail because of the people involved. Only by attracting the best people will you accomplish great deeds.”

H. S. M. Burns:

 “A good manager is a man who isn't worried about his own career but rather the careers of those who work for him.”

David Ogilvy:

 “In the modern world of business, it is useless to be a creative original thinker unless you can also sell what you create. Management cannot be expected to recognise a good idea unless it is presented to them by a good salesman.”