Management Quotes

“The last 10 percent of performance generates one-third of the cost and two-thirds of the problems.”

“The best way to get people to do what you want is to give them what they want.”

“Successful cooperation in or by formal organizations is the abnormal, not the normal, condition.”

“Many people regard execution as detail work that's beneath the dignity of a leader. That's wrong. To the contrary, it's a leader's most important job.”

“The will to manage is the inward drive to put in the time, the thought, the energy, and the action to make things happen.”

“Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later.”

“The one thing I've learned is that you can't please everybody.”

“The trouble with programmers is that you can never tell what a programmer is doing until it’s too late.”

“Drive out fear, so that everyone may work effectively for the company.”

“You have to be a loner. You have to be detached.”

“A boss creates fear, a leader confidence. A boss fixes blame, a leader corrects mistakes. A boss knows all, a leader asks questions. A boss makes work a drudgery, a leader makes it interesting.”

“You don't manage people, you manage things. You lead people.”

“There is no way that you can have a thousand-person software team and expect it to be efficient.”

“We run the company by questions, not by answers.”

“The problem is not that globalization is bad, but that the way it has been managed is bad.”

“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”

“Could we have a little less of the passive resistance and a little more of the aggressive leadership?”

“I don't think a manager should be a Dizzy Dean. I think he should be a guy who is a little more reserved.”

“You know, you don't have to have a policy for everything.”

“A baseball manager is a necessary evil.”