Deadlines aren't bad. They help you organize your time. They help you set priorities. They make you get going when you might not feel like it.

Exploring how you could make a bad situation worse can sometimes tell you what not to do.

You do not get what you want. You get what you negotiate.

If you believe, as I do, that your employees truly are your most valuable asset, you will do whatever you can to help them do their jobs as well as possible.

Fatigue makes fools of us all. It robs you of your skills and your judgment, and it blinds you to creative solutions. It's the best-conditioned athlete, not the most talented, who generally wins when the going gets tough.

By getting your customers to agree with you in small steps along the way, you have a better chance of reaching agreement when it's time to do business.