Quotes in management
Leadership, like swimming, cannot be learned by reading about it.
A good deal of the corporate planning I have observed is like a ritual rain dance; it has no effect on the weather that follows, but those who engage in it think it does. Moreover, it seems to me that much of the advice and instruction related to corporate planning is directed at improving the dancing, not the weather.
People who can't understand numbers are useless. The gemba where numbers are not visible is also bad. However, people who only look at the numbers are the worst of all.
Effective management must be directed at what you want, not against what you don't want.
When you see data, doubt [them]! When you see measurements, doubt them!
Once you get some data it does away with a lot of arguments and people can work as a team going after the biggest problems.
No one can measure the loss of business that may arise from a defective item that goes out to a customer.
Go for a business that any idiot can run - because sooner or later, any idiot probably is going to run it.
It is always easier - and usually far more effective - to focus on changing your behavior than on changing the behavior of others.