“Visible management attention, rather than management exhortation, gets things done. Action may start with the words, but it has to be backed by symbolic behavior that makes those words come alive.”
Source: The Renewal Factor, 1987, p. 11
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Robert H. Waterman 6
American writer 1950Related quotes
“[ Management can be defined as] the function of getting things done through others.”
Harold Koontz and Cyril O’Donnell (1955), Principles of Management: An Analysis of Managerial Functions. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1955, p. 3; As cited in Wren & Bedeian (2009;411)

“Human experience shows that people, not organizations or management systems, get things done.”
The Rickover Effect (1992)
Context: What it takes to do a job will not be learned from management courses. It is principally a matter of experience, the proper attitude, and common sense — none of which can be taught in a classroom... Human experience shows that people, not organizations or management systems, get things done.
“Management has to get right in there and be active when it comes to quality.”
Source: Quality Is Free, 1977, p. 14

Source: 1960s - 1980s, MANAGEMENT: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices (1973), Part 1, p. 303

<span class="plainlinks"> Foreword, 'Tales of Transformation: English Translation of Tagore's Chitrangada and Chandalika', Lopamudra Banerjee, (2018). https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07DQPD8F4/</span>
From Prose
“Management manages by making decisions and by seeing that those decisions are implemented.”
Managing, Chapter Four (Two Organizational Structures), p. 69.

Russell L. Ackoff and Fred Emery (1972) On purposeful systems, cited in: Lloyd Dobyns, Clare Crawford-Mason (1994) Thinking about quality: progress, wisdom, and the Deming philosophy. p. 40.
1970s