Quotes in managing people

A tightrope over a chasm is fine for a trained acrobat with a balancing pole. It is foolish for someone without the right training or tools. They would be better served with something else - a rope bridge with railings.

Best efforts are essential. Unfortunately, best efforts, people charging this way and that way without guidance of principles, can do a lot of damage.

the system that people work in and the interaction with people may account for 90 or 95 percent of performance.

The idea of a merit rating is alluring. The sound of the words captivates the imagination: pay for what you get; get what you pay for; motivate people to do their best, for their own good.

The effect is exactly the opposite of what the words promise.

Leaders don't create followers, they create more leaders.

Take time to appreciate employees and they will reciprocate in a thousand ways.

The real problems in the office are the managers and the meetings.

You can't work directly on morale. You work on other things and morale will come along with it.

You get the best effort from others not by lighting a fire beneath them, but by building a fire within.

The idea of a merit rating is alluring. The sound of the words captivates the imagination: pay for what you get; get what you pay for; motivate people to do their best, for their own good.

The effect is exactly the opposite of what the words promise. Everyone propels himself forward, or tries to, for his own good, on his own life preserver. The organization is the loser.

The merit rating rewards people that conform to the system. It does not reward attempts to improve the system. Don't rock the boat.