“The principle is simple and powerful enough to be Marvin's Fourth Great Secret: If what they've been doing hasn't solved the problem, tell them to do something else.”

Source: The secrets of consulting, 1985, p. 41

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "The principle is simple and powerful enough to be Marvin's Fourth Great Secret: If what they've been doing hasn't solve…" by Gerald M. Weinberg?
Gerald M. Weinberg photo
Gerald M. Weinberg 22
American computer scientist 1933–2018

Related quotes

Richard Feynman photo

“What I cannot create, I do not understand.Know how to solve every problem that has been solved.”

Richard Feynman (1918–1988) American theoretical physicist

on his blackboard at the time of death in February 1988; from a photo in the Caltech archives http://archives.caltech.edu/pictures/1.10-29.jpg

Richard Feynman photo

“What I cannot create, I do not understand.Know how to solve every problem that has been solved.”

Richard Feynman (1918–1988) American theoretical physicist

on his blackboard at the time of death in February 1988; from a photo in the Caltech archives http://archives.caltech.edu/pictures/1.10-29.jpg

Nathan Seiberg photo

“Whenever you work on something and try to solve one problem, and you end up helping or solving many other problems, it is a sign that what you are doing is good.”

Nathan Seiberg (1956) American physicist

as quoted by Sandhya Ramesh in: [Interview: 'There's No Conflict Between Lack of Evidence of String Theory and Work Being Done on It', The Wire, Bengaluru, 7 January 2018, https://thewire.in/science/theres-no-conflict-lack-evidence-string-theory-work-done]

Ewan McGregor photo
Leonardo Da Vinci photo

“Life is pretty simple: You do some stuff. Most fails. Some works. You do more of what works. If it works big, others quickly copy it. Then you do something else. The trick is the doing something else.”

Leonardo Da Vinci (1452–1519) Italian Renaissance polymath

Quote is actually from Tom Peters: The Best Corporate Strategy? None, Of Course. Chicago Tribune July 11, 1994 http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1994-07-11/business/9407110026_1_silicon-graphics-customers-richard-branson
Misattributed

“Life is pretty simple: You do some stuff. Most fails. Some works. You do more of what works. If it works big, others quickly copy it. Then you do something else. The trick is the doing something else.”

Tom Peters (1942) American writer on business management practices

Tom Peters in: " The Best Corporate Strategy? None, Of Course http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1994-07-11/business/9407110026_1_silicon-graphics-customers-richard-branson." Chicago Tribune, July 11, 1994.

Tsai Ing-wen photo

“Politics should be as simple as possible; it should respond directly to the needs of the people, it should help to solve the problems for the people and this is what I want to do for Taiwan.”

Tsai Ing-wen (1956) President of the Republic of China

Tsai vows ‘new age’ at opening event, Taipei Times, 1, October 19, 2015, 19 October 2015 http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2015/10/19/2003630398,

Ben Carson photo

“Do you have a brain? Then use it. It's all you need to overcome any problem. That's the secret. That's my simple but powerful prescription for life, love, and success in a dangerous world.”

Ben Carson (1951) 17th and current United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; American neurosurgeon

Source: Take The Risk (2008), p. 236

Christopher Hitchens photo

“We had enough of people who think like you, that they know what god wants and that they've got god on their side. That they can tell us what to do or what to think in this way.”

Christopher Hitchens (1949–2011) British American author and journalist

Hannity's America, May 13, 2007 interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWoHh4_rVdg http://transcripts.wikia.com/wiki/Sean_Hannity_Christopher_Hitchens_Hannity%27s_America_May13%2C_2007?venotify=created
2000s, 2007

Steve Jobs photo

“We hired truly great people and gave them the room to do great work. A lot of companies […] hire people to tell them what to do. We hire people to tell us what to do. We figure we're paying them all this money; their job is to figure out what to do and tell us.”

Steve Jobs (1955–2011) American entrepreneur and co-founder of Apple Inc.

The management philosophy here really is to give people enough rope to hang themselves. We hire people to tell us what to do. That's what we pay them for.
1990s
Source: Steve Jobs, 1996, Fresh Air radio interview by Terry Gross, npr.org http://www.npr.org/2011/10/06/141115121/steve-jobs-computer-science-is-a-liberal-art, audio 26:30/31:05
Source: Steve Jobs 1982, interview in InfoWorld March 4, 1982, p.15 books.google https://books.google.fr/books?id=gT4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA15&dq=rope

Related topics