“It is a human inclination to hope things will work out, despite evidence or doubt to the contrary. A successful manager must resist this temptation.”
The Rickover Effect (1992)
Context: It is a human inclination to hope things will work out, despite evidence or doubt to the contrary. A successful manager must resist this temptation. This is particularly hard if one has invested much time and energy on a project and thus has come to feel possessive about it. Although it is not easy to admit what a person once thought correct now appears to be wrong, one must discipline himself to face the facts objectively and make the necessary changes — regardless of the consequences to himself. The man in charge must personally set the example in this respect. He must be able, in effect, to "kill his own child" if necessary and must require his subordinates to do likewise.
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Hyman George Rickover 52
United States admiral 1900–1986Related quotes
“I don't know what it is I'm doing. But it's not that. Despite all evidence to the contrary.”
Source: Ascending Peculiarity: Edward Gorey on Edward Gorey
"Fethullah Gulen: I Condemn All Threats to Turkey’s Democracy", 2016
Fethullah Gülen, "Fethullah Gulen: I Condemn All Threats to Turkey’s Democracy", The New York Times (July 26, 2016)
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“He who cannot resist temptation is not a man. He is wanting in the highest attributes of humanity.”
A Few Thoughts for a Young Man (1850), p. 65
Context: He who cannot resist temptation is not a man. He is wanting in the highest attributes of humanity.
“There’s a built-in resistance to letting humanity be a success.”
From 1980s onwards, Norie Huddle interview (1981)
Context: There’s a built-in resistance to letting humanity be a success. Each one claims that their system is the best one for coping with inadequacy. We have to make them all obsolete. We need to find within technology that there is something we can do which is capable of taking care of everybody, and to demonstrate that this is so. That’s what geodesic domes are about and that’s what my whole life has been about. Don't fight forces, use them.
Source: The Other Side Of The Coin (2008), Chapter 7, Straight Versus Crooked, p. 228