"Just as there are no llittle people or unimportant lives,, there is no insignificant work."
- Elena Bonner
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| Comments: |
In Step I of Job Instruction Training, we prepare the worker and one action we take is to explain the importance of the job. Every job is important or we shouldn't be doing it. Jobs will vary in degree of difficulty and skill level required, but each is required in order to accomplish our task. |
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"Don't try to be a great man. Just be a man and let history make its own judgment."
- Commander Riker, "Star Trek, The Second Generation" Television Series
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| Comments: |
Quote contributed by Jim Huntzinger
Sometimes we try too hard and lose sight of the objective. We should do our best and strive to do what is right and the consequences will be appropriate.
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"Every
choice we make allows us to manipulate the future."
- John Luc Picard, "Star Trek, The Second Generation" Television Series
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| Comments: |
I
think this is a different way of looking at the choices
we make. While some think that our future is written, others
believe it is what we make of it. Thinking of manipulating
the future also gives one a sense of power, which is what,
in fact, we have. |
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"In
the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream
always wins - not through strength but by perservance."
- H. Jackson Brown
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| Comments: |
There
is much to be said for just hanging on and not giving up.
The question always is: How do you know if what you are
doing is at all productive or if it is fruitless? Look to
see if you're making any progress at all, consider your
alternatives and turn away only if you know the alternative
is more beneficial. |
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"If
there is no transformation inside each of us, all the structural
change in the world will have no impact on our institutions."
- Peter Block, Stewardship, p.77
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| Comments: |
When
we think of productivity changes (or any changes for that
matter), the first thing we think to do is to change what
we do. Real change happens only when we change how we think,
and that is the most difficult change of all. |
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"Vision
without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a
nightmare."
- A Japanese Proverb
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| Comments: |
Which
is why the person who possesses both vision and action is
so highly valued. |
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"There
are two ways to slice easily through life; to believe
everything or to doubt everything. Both ways save us from
thinking."
- Alfred Korzybski - Polish-American Linguist (1879-1950)
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| Comments: |
Thinking
and questioning requires effort which is why they are so
often avoided. |
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"Service
out of obligation is codependency and a disguised form of
control. Service that fully satisfies is done with no expectation
of return, and is freely chosen."
- Peter Block, Stewardship, p 236.
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| Comments: |
Stewardship,
as defined by Peter Block, is a management style of serving
others, particularly teh employees who work "for" a
manager. In addition, he adds that this service should be
done freely or it just becomes another form of control. |
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"They
who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
- (Paraphrase) Benjamin Franklin (c) 1776
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| Comments: |
This
quotation is directed at the Bush administration which seems
to be using the war against terrorism as an excuse to reduce
American freedoms. Tours of the White House have been suspended
until further notice, terrorists are to be tried in secret
tribunals where they may or may not have a lawyer. It seems
that what we're fighting for is very important until our
back is against the wall and then we follow what our enemy
does. Democracy and maintaining personal liberties are not
easy concepts to follow and we should not follow them only
when it is convenient to do so. |
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"'Company Policy' means there's no understandable
reason for this action."
- Herbert V. Prochnow, American writer
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| Comments: |
This
makes the assumption that if you can't explain it, there's
no reason for it. Underlying that is the concept that company
policies should be simple enough for everyone in the company
to understand. |
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"Management
by objectives works if you know the objectives. Ninety percent
of the time you don't."
- Peter Drucker, management expert
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| Comments: |
They
don't tell you that when you buy the book. Many of the management
fads have some practical application, but it's the application
that's difficult. |
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"They
have to shift from command and control to something newer
- something more horizontal, more team oriented with more
accountability and less hierarchy."
- J. Edward Russo, Professor of Marketing & Behavioral Science, Cornell
University's Johnson Graduate School of Management (Rochester Democrat & Chronicle
10/28/01; pp1A & 10A)
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| Comments: |
The
shift about which Russo is speaking is well described in
Stewardship by Peter Block. What makes this quote exciting
is not that it's true or even that a professor at a leading
university said it. It's exciting because the quote appeared
on the FRONT page of a newspaper. The article was titled "Executives
at the Big 3 catch flak from critics". Note that the "Big
3" are the three largest industrial corporations in
Rochester, NY. Jim Collins, who is described as a "management
expert" says that "harsh times should not become
an excuse for a company that does not achieve success." He
goes on to say. "...a company does not go from good
to great with a technology solution." What is needed
is a change in culture where leaders enable the employees
who do the work to determine how it should be done. A CEO
can not depend on technology to solve the company's problems.
The culture of the company must be such that employees are
enabled to maximize their potentials to solve these problems. |
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"[Unlike]
a hundred years ago...the approved view today is that an
intrinsic interest in the activity regardless of ulterior
consequences is an enormously superior means of learning."
- Edward L. Thorndike, 1935
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| Comments: |
The
quote was found on page 142 of Punished By Rewards by Alfie
Kohn. Seeing that the quote is dated 66 years ago, one wonders
if that thinking is actually a change or if people always
believed that having an intrinsic interest in a subject
is a superior means of learning that subject. |
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"When
all think alike, no one thinks very much."
- Walter Lippmann, American Journalist
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| Comments: |
Perhaps
the reason the world has so many different languages, religions,
and forms of government is to make people think. Without
thinking, there can be no improvement. |
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"...companies
that continually increased productivity had learned to pay
attention to processes."
- Jacquie Vierling-Huang, Manager of Work-Out and Change Acceleration, GE Crotonville
(from The Dance of Change, Peter Senge, Doubleday, New York, 1999, p.78)
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| Comments: |
This
is a reoccurring theme. The most common analogy is that
of improving one's productivity on the golf course. Don't
focus on getting the ball into the hole. Focus on keeping
your head down, swinging through the ball, etc. Manage and
improve the processes and the goal will be achieved. |
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"Non-violence
is the first article of faith"
- Mahatma Gandi
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| Comments: |
for
those terrorists who use God and their religion as an explanation
for their acts |
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"...talents (or skills or strengths) are not the
key issue, even if they are relevant. Rather, what is important
is what inspires persistence and determination - in other
words, what you care about. Don't worry about what you're
good at. If something turns you on, you'll be good enough.
If it doesn't, you won't. Your strengths are irrelevant:
What you like is critical."
- True Professionalism, David H. Maister, p 31.
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| Comments: |
This,
I believe, is a true key to success. Quoting Maister again
from the same chapter, "Success comes from doing what
you enjoy. If you don't enjoy it, how can it be called success?" We
don't spend enough time on career development with the result
that many people labor at jobs they really don't like. If
they chose an occupation they liked, they could earn a livelihood
at something about which they are passionate. Many people
think this is not possible and so do not put much effort
into trying. The truth is, it is possible, but it takes
a lot of work. There is also a paradox in that people think
their likes and dislikes should be obvious to them when
actually, it requires significant introspection to actually
know what one likes. |
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"We understand that the only competitive advantage
the company of the future will have is its managers' ability
to learn faster than their competitors."
- Arie de Geus, from "Planning as Learning" in the Harvard Business
Review,1988
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| Comments: |
I
found this quote on page 22 of The Dance of Change by Peter
Senge. Although the word 'manager ' is used, the implication
is that all people in organizations must think and learn
in order for that organization to be successful. We are
beyond the point where we can afford to hire people - at
any level - for their 'hands' alone. Every employee must
contribute by thinking. The requirement, then, is for managers
to listen to and take action on those thoughts. |
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"[Rewards]
have effects that interfere with performance in ways that
we are only beginning to understand."
- Janet Spence 1971 as quoted in "Punished By Rewards" by Alfie Cohen
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| Comments: |
This
quote begins to state the thesis of Mr. Cohen's book. He
shows that rewards are detrimental to performance by decreasing
productivity, creativity and initiative. Many people disagree
with this thesis although he supports it with extensive
research. Although rewards are useful in some circumstances
(teaching a dog a new trick or getting a person to perform
a task once or twice), I believe people do not want to accept
his thesis for two reasons:
1: Our society is so entrenched in reward systems that
thinking about living without them is traumatic. 2: It
is much easier to use a reward system than it is to create
an environment where people are intrinsically motivated.
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"You
are what you think about."
- Earl Nightingale
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| Comments: |
Earl
Nightingale states in his audio tape "The Strangest
Secret" that this theme has been repeated throughout
history. Although it may seem like common sense, it appears
that many people miss the point. Career counselors focus
on this concept when they interview and test candidates.
The main objective is to find out what the person thinks
about most often since that will be, most likely, what the
person likes the best and consequently may be vary capable
of doing. |
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"Creativity
is the marriage of passion and logic."
- Jerry Hirsberg, The Creative Priority
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| Comments: |
In
order for creativity to exist, a person must have a strong
desire to do something and also have some knowledge about
how to do it. These two must be balanced, I believe, because
if one is much stronger than the other new ideas won't occur
as easily. |
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"If
truth were self-evident, eloquence would not be necessary."
- Cicero
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| Comments: |
Communication
is often cited as one of the main problems in the business
world, yet most people do not spend time learning how to
speak and write with clarity. Why should they, after all,
since they know what they mean! |
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"I'm
not smarter than anyone else. I just think about things
more."
- Albert Einstein
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| Comments: |
This
may have been one of the few times Mr. Einstein was incorrect.
Most people would agree that his was one of the best minds
in history. His quote was reinforced by Earl Nightingale
in his treatise entitled "The Strangest Secret".
The thesis is that we are what we think about. The more
we think about something, the more we know about it and
thus the better we are at doing it. After a while, we will
be known by what we think about most. |
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