Quotes about management
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“The proper management of pain remains, after all, the most important obligation, the main objective, and the crowning achievement of every physician.”

John Bonica (1917–1994) Anesthesiologist; pioneer in pain management

The Management of Pain (1954)

Carl Safina photo

“From the happy-go-lucky days of oil exploration and drilling, when a lot of easy sources were being found and easily managed, we're gotten ourselves into this sort of apocalyptic time. We're willing to destroy almost everything, risk almost anything, and go ahead with techniques for which we have no way of responding to the known problems. And that is truly an addiction in the real sense of the word, an addiction by which people destroy their own bodies to continue to have a supply of something that is killing them.”

Carl Safina (1955) American biologist

[The Atlantic, Deepwater Horizon, One Year Later: A Conversation With Carl Safina, 20 April 2011, http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/04/deepwater-horizon-a-convesation-with-carl-safina/237043/] (Talking to the author of "A Sea in Flames" about how offshore drilling has—and hasn't changed—since the Gulf spill — interview by Douglas Gorney)

Frederick Winslow Taylor photo

“You gentlemen may laugh, but that is true, all right; it sounds ridiculous, I know, but it is fact. Now if the problem were put up to any of you man to develop science of shoveling as it was put up to us, that is, to a group of men who had deliberately set out to develop the science of all kinds of all laboring work, where do you think you would begin? When you started to study the science of shoveling I make the assertion that you would be within two days – just as we were in two days –well on the way toward development of the science of shoveling. At least you would outlined in your minds those elements which required careful, scientific study in order to understand science of shoveling. I do not want to go into all of the details of shoveling, but I will give you some of the elements, one or two of the most important elements of the science of shoveling; that is, the elements that reach further and have more serious consequences than any other. Probably the most important element in the science of shoveling is this: There must be some shovel load at which a first-class shoveler will do his biggest day’s work. What is that load? To illustrate: when we went to the Bethlehem Steel Works and observed the shoveler in the yard of that company, we found that each of the good shovelers in that yard owned his own shovel; they preferred to buy their own shovels rather than to have the company furnish them. There was a larger tonnage of ore shoveled in that woks than of any other material and rice coal came next in tonnage. We would see a first-class shoveler go from shoveling rice coal with a load of 3.5 ponds to the shovel to handling ore from the Massaba Range, with 38 pounds to the shove Now, is 3.5 pounds the proper shovel load or is the 38 pounds the proper load? They cannot both be right. Under scientific management the answer to this question is not a matter of anyone’s opinion; it is a question for accurate, careful, scientific investigation.”

Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856–1915) American mechanical engineer and tennis player

Source: Testimony of Frederick W. Taylor... 1912, p. 111.

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“Personally I think that Austria’s unilateral decision, and then those made subsequently by Balkan countries, will obviously bring us fewer refugees, but they put Greece in a very difficult situation. If we do not manage to reach a deal with Turkey, then Greece cannot bear the weight for long. That’s why I am seeking a real European solution, that is, a solution for all 28”

Angela Merkel (1954) Chancellor of Germany

E.U. members
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has criticized other European countries for shutting the door to refugees and migrants hoping to reach Europe via the Balkan route, the BBC reports, quoted on Time, "The route is the major pathway to Western Europe for refugees arriving in Greece" http://time.com/4255038/germany-merkel-refugees-balkan-route/, March 10, 2016.
2016

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“Whoever decided to use the semicolon to end something should just be taken out and have his colon semified. (At least COBOL and SQL managed to use a period.)”

Erik Naggum (1965–2009) Norwegian computer programmer

Re: Read table modification question. http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.lisp/msg/e41a53e66cc1572f (Usenet article).
Usenet articles, Miscellaneous

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“You rule the Bondsmagi,” said Locke, incredulously.
“Rule is too strong a term. We do occasionally manage to avert total chaos.”

Source: The Republic of Thieves (2013), Chapter 1 “Things Get Worse” section 11 (p. 65)

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“We should remember that the last time global temperature was 5C different from today, the Earth was gripped by an ice age. So the risks are immense and can only be sensibly managed by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which will require a new low-carbon industrial revolution.”

Nicholas Stern, Baron Stern of Brentford (1946) British economist and academic

"Climate change is here now and it could lead to global conflict" http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/feb/13/storms-floods-climate-change-upon-us-lord-stern, The Guardian (14 February 2014).

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Ashley Tisdale photo

“When I was little, I saw the play Les Misérables on Broadway, I thought it was the most amazing thing I have ever seen. So I went to my manager and told him I wanted to be in it. He asked me if I could sing, and I said no. I took one lesson and landed the role of Cosette in a national tour of the musical”

Ashley Tisdale (1985) American actress, singer

Tisdale about her early life. People Magazine. "Ashley Tisdale's Biography" http://www.people.com/people/ashley_tisdale. People. August 7 2004. Retrieved August 7 2008.
On her Biography Ashley Tisdale. (2006)

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“Everything considered, a determined soul will always manage.”

Source: The Myth of Sisyphus (1942), An Absurd Reasoning, p. 170

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“UNFAIR Term applied to advantages enjoyed by other people which we tried to cheat them out of and didn’t manage.”

the happening world (12) “The General Feeling”
Stand on Zanzibar (1968)

Britney Spears photo

“I'm so blessed with my baby. And I want the most normal life possible for him. And I'll manage, I will create that.”

Britney Spears (1981) American singer, dancer and actress

Matt Lauer interview http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13347509/page/4/, MSNBC (14 June 2006)

“Failure to delegate causes managers to be crushed and fail under the weight of accumulated duties that they do not know and have not learned to delegate.”

James D. Mooney (1884–1957) American businessman

James D. Mooney (1931), cited in: Guy Kimberley Hutt (1990), Organizational decentralization and delegation in large New York. p. 1

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“The work of managing a natural environment is inescapably a work of local knowledge.”

Kevin Kelly (1952) American author and editor

Out of Control: The New Biology of Machines, Social Systems and the Economic World (1995)

Erving Goffman photo

“This article [entitled A framework for the comparative analysis of organizations], was one of three independent statements in 1967 of what came to be called "contingency theory." It held that the structure of an organization depends upon (is ‘contingent’ upon) the kind of task performed, rather than upon some universal principles that apply to all organizations. The notion was in the wind at the time.
I think we were all convinced we had a breakthrough, and in some respects we did — there was no one best way of organizing; bureaucracy was efficient for some tasks and inefficient for others; top managers tried to organize departments (research, production) in the same way when they should have different structures; organizational comparisons of goals, output, morale, growth, etc., should control for types of technologies; and so on. While my formulation grew out of fieldwork, my subsequent research offered only modest support for it. I learned that managers had other ends to maximize than efficient production and they sometimes sacrificed efficiency for political and personal ends.”

Charles Perrow (1925–2019) American sociologist

Charles Perrow, in "This Week’s Citation Classic." in: CC, Nr. 14. April 6, 1981 (online at garfield.library.upenn.edu)
Comment:
The other two 1967 publications were Paul R. Lawrence & Jay W. Lorsch. Organization and environment. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1967, and James D. Thompson. Organizations in action. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1967.
1980s and later

Marion Nestle photo

“The first myth of management is that it exists. The second myth of management is that success equals skill.”

Robert Heller (1932–2012) British magician

Robert Heller cited in : Jonathon Green (1984) The Cynic's Lexicon: A Dictionary of Amoral Advice. p. 92

Michał Kalecki photo

“Modern factory management (but not it must be stressed the management of large modern multi-unit enterprises) had the genesis in the United States in the Springfield Armory.”

Alfred D. Chandler, Jr. (1918–2007) American historian

Source: The Visible Hand (1977), p. 75; Cited in: Best (1990, p. 32).

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Frederick Winslow Taylor photo

“The principal object of management should be to secure the maximum prosperity for the employer coupled with the maximum prosperity for each employee.”

Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856–1915) American mechanical engineer and tennis player

Source: Principles of Scientific Management, 1911, p. 9; Lead paragraph ; Chapter 1: Fundamentals of Scientific Management.

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“This code is indispensable. Be it a case of commerce, industry, politics, religion, war or philanthropy in every concern there is a management function to be performed and for its performance there must be principles, that is to say acknowledged truths regarded as proven on which to rely.”

Henri Fayol (1841–1925) Developer of Fayolism

Source: General and industrial management, 1919/1949, p. 42-43 cited in: John B. Miner (2006) Historical Origins, Theoretical Foundations, And the Future. p. 114

William H. Starbuck photo

““Organization theory,” a term that appeared in the middle of the twentieth century, has multiple meanings. When it first emerged, the term expressed faith in scientific research as a way to gain understanding of human beings and their interactions. Although scientific research had been occurring for several centuries, the idea that scientific research might enhance understanding of human behavior was considerably newer and rather few people appreciated it. Simon (1950, 1952-3, 1952) was a leading proponent for the creation of “organization theory”, which he imagined as including scientific management, industrial engineering, industrial psychology, the psychology of small groups, human-resources management, and strategy. The term “organization theory” also indicated an aspiration to state generalized, abstract propositions about a category of social systems called “organizations,” which was a very new concept. Before and during the 1800s, people had regarded armies, schools, churches, government agencies, and social clubs as belonging to distinct categories, and they had no name for the union of these categories. During the 1920s, some people began to perceive that diverse kinds of medium-sized social systems might share enough similarities to form a single, unified category. They adopted the term “organization” for this unified category.”

William H. Starbuck (1934) American academic

William H. Starbuck and Philippe Baumard (2009). "The seeds, blossoming, and scant yield of organization theory," in: Jacques Rojot et. al (eds.) Comportement organisationnel - Volume 3 De Boeck Supérieur. p. 15

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“Strategic planning is not strategic thinking. Indeed, strategic planning often spoils strategic thinking, causing managers to confuse real vision with the manipulation of numbers.”

Henry Mintzberg (1939) Canadian busines theorist

Attributed to Mintzberg in C.W. Cook, P.L. Hunsaker (2001) Management and organizational behavior. p. 58

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Marvin Bower photo
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António Guterres photo

“We can't deter people fleeing for their lives. They will come. The choice we have is how well we manage their arrival, and how humanely.”

António Guterres (1949) Secretary-General of the United Nations

"U.N. Refugee Chief: Europe’s Response to Mediterranean Crisis Is ‘Lagging Far Behind’" http://time.com/3833463/unhcr-antonio-guterres-migration-refugees-europe/, Time Magazine (23 April 2015)

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David Allen photo

“What maps do you need to review, to see where you are & what to do next? Core to self-management systems.”

David Allen (1945) American productivity consultant and author

23 August 2012 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/238837461663490048
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

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David Allen photo

“Using your head to manage your life = creativity constipation.”

David Allen (1945) American productivity consultant and author

19 July 2012 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/226141872467369984
Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

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“Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.”

Peter Drucker, and Warren Bennis, as quoted by Covey, in The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People (1989), this has sometimes become misattributed to him.
Misattributed

Mao Zedong photo

“Since 1977, there have been many science fiction movies, but none has managed to equal [A New Hope's] blend of adventure, likable characters, and epic storytelling.”

James Berardinelli (1967) American film critic

Review http://www.reelviews.net/movies/s/sw1.html of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977).
Four star reviews

Charlie Brooker photo

“The producer. This is a person engaged by the management to conceal the fact that the players cannot act.”

James Agate (1877–1947) British diarist and critic

Ego 6, p. 199, June 26, 1943.

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“It's not my job to manage this department - it's my job to lead this department.”

John Reid, Baron Reid of Cardowan (1947) British politician

BBC News 23 May 2006

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KT Tunstall photo

“I managed to win Battle Of The Bands with one mandolin player! It was me and eleven goth bands and I won.”

KT Tunstall (1975) Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist

KTTunstall.com

“We are all born brave, trusting and greedy, and most of us manage to remain greedy.”

Mignon McLaughlin (1913–1983) American journalist

The Complete Neurotic's Notebook (1981), Unclassified

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Arsène Wenger photo

“When you are a player, you think, 'Me! Me! Me!' When you are a manager, you think 'You! You! You!”

Arsène Wenger (1949) French footballer and manager

8 February 2002
Quotations from the Public Comments of Arsene Wenger: Manager, Arsenal Football Club (2005)

Phil Brown (footballer) photo

“You've got a good manager.”

Phil Brown (footballer) (1959) English association football player and manager

1-Oct-2005, Radio Derby
That's you, Phil.

Charles Krauthammer photo

“Our culture has confined our imaginations with an uninspiring vision of God. He's been reduced to a manageable deity of consumable proportions.”

The Divine Commodity: Discovering A Faith Beyond Consumer Christianity (2009, Zondervan)

Peter F. Drucker photo
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Sarah Silverman photo

“I've sued my manager for sexual harassment. And it's real hard, and a big strain on me. Because he hasn't done anything.”

Sarah Silverman (1970) American comedian and actress

Jesus Is Magic (2005)

“Scott London: How did you begin to explore the connection between management and science?
Meg Wheatley: I didn't have an interest in the new science. I had a realization that in my profession — which was vaguely labeled "organizational change," "organizational development," or "management consulting" in general — none of us knew how organizations change. When I talked to other consultants, I noticed that if we had an organizational change effort that was successful, it felt like a miracle to us.
I realized with a great start one day that we weren't even geared up for success. It didn't matter that we didn't know how to change organizations. We were all professionals who didn't hope to achieve what we were selling or suggesting to clients. The field was really moribund.
At the same time — and this is the serendipity of life — I had a friend and educator whom I had worked with for many years who said casually one day "Meg, if you're interested in systems thinking, you should be reading quantum physics." He didn't know where I was in my despair over my professional failings. But I said, "Okay, give me a book list."”

Margaret J. Wheatley (1941) American writer

He gave me ten titles. I read eight of those and I was off. I always credit him with that casual, helpful comment that changed my life.
Scott London (2008) " The New Science of Leadership: An Interview with Margaret Wheatley http://www.scottlondon.com/interviews/wheatley.html" in Quantum21. management journal, Spring 2008.

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