I picked these up a decade ago when I went through the Executive Officer Course at the Command Leadership School, enjoyed reading them, thinking about them and summarily posted them outside my stateroom. Oddly enough they had a more significant impact than I expected and were the second most requested item from people after I transferred.
The most popular were the Battle ‘E’ certificates.
Rule 1: Timing is everything in life.
Rule 2: Bad news doesn’t get better with time.
Rule 3: 50/50/90 – Given a 50/50 chance, 90% of the time you make the wrong choice.
Rule 4: Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good—as long as you know the difference.
Rule 5: Hope is not a military course of action.
Rule 6: The first report is always wrong.
Rule 7: The second report is usually wrong.
Rule 8: Everyone is capable of error free work (you drive home thousands of times—how often do you end up at the wrong house).
Rule 9: The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of meeting the schedule has been forgotten.
Rule 10: Unhappy people vote with their feet.
