THAT WON'T WORK BECAUSE . . .

"Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities."

Albert Einstein

20th century German, Swiss, US scientist

Think about this the next time you find yourself first thinking someone else's suggestion won't work, before (if at all) you think about the possibility that it might.

Your Replacement Is Here To See You

"To the old, the new is usually bad news."

Eric Hoffer

20th century American philosopher

But as a manager (old) part of your job is to find employees (new) who could potentially do your job.

What do you think of that?

Sooner Or Later They Will Be Heard

"A populace never rebels from passion for attack, but from impatience of suffering."

Edmund Burke

18th century British political writer

If your staff has grievances, hear them.

Sooner Is (Much) Better

"Don't wait for your ship to come in, swim out to it."

Unknown

Another exhortation to be proactive.

And staying with the "ship" analogy, I would add be looking for it before you see it.

You know, early birds, worms and the like.

Minimize Reactive Management

"Incidents should not govern policy; but policy, incidents."

Napoleon Bonaparte

Late 18th century French general

Eight words, which, in my opinion, should be the center piece of management philosophy.

Don't react to transitory events. 

Manage in a way that is, as much as possible, appropriate for the great majority of likely events.

Management: Proactive or Reactive?

"Sit quietly, doing nothing, spring comes, and the grass grows by itself."

Zen

I can be as pastoral as the next guy and my years of yoga have helped me see the value of quiet, passive reflection. I also admire those who remain calm during turbulent times, particularly business managers who do so.

But being calm is not the same as sitting quietly and under certain circumstances, if we want the "grass to grow" we'd better do something to see that it does.

What about you?

Sitting quietly, doing nothing waiting for the "grass" to grow this "spring" or . . . ?