Honeywell

"Lessons from Honeywell •   In massive conglomerates, complexity and bureaucracy become the accepted default. •   Turnarounds take time, patience, and persistence. •   Make the difficult and unpopular decisions as soon as possible. •   Cost structure and liabilities need to be addressed before growth can become the focus. •   Hold the line on fixed costs—people hire people who hire people—often unproductively. •   Pay top talent not just for the job they do today, but for the job they will be offered tomorrow. •   Localized strategies often yield better results than global strategies. •   Favorite “Cote-ism”: “What you think, what you say, and what you do shouldn’t be three separate decisions.”"

"“I want to make money on the stock 10 years after I retire” and “I want people to say, ‘If I want a good leader, I hire a Honeywell guy’—except they can’t get our guys because Honeywell is such a great place to have a career.”"

"The highest profit margins in the industrial world are in the aerospace aftermarket. General Electric makes 60 percent margins on replacement turbine blades; spare brake pads generate 70 percent margins for companies like Honeywell and United Technologies; and navigation software updates can approach 100 percent margins."