Quotes About Management

It is an illusion that once upon a time managers could make their direct reports do whatever was needed. Nobody has ever had enough authority—they never have and never will. Organizational life is too complicated for that.

Being in charge can seem like a thing iron-forged, but in the end it's just an idea everyone agrees to.

Cuanto menos tiempo tienes, menos quieres arriesgar el que te queda

to manage a fetching style. The bruises round her

The greatest responsibility of a commander was not to command, but to look like he knew how to.

A good leader can't dwell on the choices he's made, Threetrees used to tell him, and a good leader can't help dwelling on 'em.

Being in charge can seem like a thing iron-forged, but in the end it's just an idea everyone agrees to. By

For reasons rooted in mass psychology, the history of myth, and the changing face of America, this country cares deeply who is in charge of the Walt Disney Company and what they do with it.

A good sign that an army has been around too long is that it starts getting top-heavy with officers.

The Naughty List - People who skim or outright skip acknowledgments pages. Please contact the management for your free, all-expenses-paid pass to Christmasland.

It takes time to save time.

Of course, there are plenty of ways we could define what makes a business either good or bad. Among other things, we could look at the quality of its products or services, the loyalty of its customers, the value of its brands, the efficiency of its operations, the talent of its management, the strength of its competitors, or the long-term prospects of its business.

He had a smart crew, and if he spoke too much, they'd shut up and listen to him instead of volunteering their own very useful opinions. 'Good leaders lead,' Pantillo had told Erik once. 'Great leaders listen.

Croma staff officers, it seemed, liked to make things unnecessarily complicated just as human ones did.

The Joel Test 1. Do you use source control? 2. Can you make a build in one step? 3. Do you make daily builds? 4. Do you have a bug database? 5. Do you fix bugs before writing new code? 6. Do you have an up-to-date schedule? 7. Do you have a spec? 8. Do programmers have quiet working conditions? 9. Do you use the best tools money can buy? 10. Do you have testers? 11. Do new candidates write code during their interview? 12. Do you do hallway usability testing?

Many rookie software managers think that they can "motivate" their programmers to work faster by giving them nice, "tight" (unrealistically short) schedules. I think this kind of motivation is brain-dead. When I'm behind schedule, I feel doomed and depressed and unmotivated. When I'm working ahead of schedule, I'm cheerful and productive. The schedule is not the place to play psychological games.

I've grown to think that keeping your desk clean is actually probably a sign that you're not being effective.

I'd fire that woman if I knew how to operate a vacuum.

We always have time enough, if we will but use it aright.

To rule is easy, to govern difficult.

Many people take no care of their money till they come nearly to the end of it, and others do just the same with their time.

It has been said that figures rule the world; maybe. I am quite sure that it is figures which show us whether it is being ruled well or badly.

How many kings are governed by their ministers, how many ministers by their secretaries? Who, in such cases, is really the chief?

One always has time enough, if one will apply it well.