Code of Honour

• Don’t look at the whole tribute; look at the last increase. It tells you when to stop.
• Squeeze a tax base dry, and one day it will testify.
• A night shift that scorches collars costs more than a second press.
• “20/25” looks fine on the board. Off the board are the ones who sewed for free.
• You can chase fences for years. Find the link everything passes through.
• Fix the bottleneck first. Speeding up the rest while it’s stuck is just gymnastics.
• Before you buy something new, move the old.
• A rule that helps no one works for the competition.
• Write down whatever repeats, so you can think about what doesn’t.
• A procedure serves the client, not the berries in the muffin.
• The card by the door isn’t written for the stupid. It’s written for the tired.
• Good work can’t be seen. Don’t mistake quiet for uselessness.
• The machine does the easy part. The hard part still falls to a man—keep him in shape.
• Get up from the table when the risk grows faster than the winnings.
• On closing a business, ask someone who didn’t start it.
• Close with a bow before you have to close in anger.
• You close a shop, not your reputation. Pay your bills.
• Cling to the old ways out of pride, and you’ve chosen a beautiful death.
• A business should last three weeks without you, at the very least.
• Test yourself before life does it for you.
• A plan doesn’t take away fear. It takes away confusion.
• Most strokes of genius are written after the fact.
• A victory that leaves you no men is a defeat in dress uniform.
• Five tins on trial are cheaper than twenty years of friendship.
• Don’t check yourself against yesterday’s map.