Competition should not be for a share of the market-but to expand the market.
W. Edwards DemingRead
The prevailing - and foolish - attitude is that a good manager can be a good manager anywhere, with no special knowledge of the production process he's managing. A man with a financial background may know nothing about manufacturing shoes or cars, but he's put in charge anyway.
Interpretation
Effective management requires specific knowledge of the field being managed, rather than just generic skills.
W. Edwards Deming emphasizes the importance of understanding the specific processes related to the field of management. He critiques the common belief that anyone can manage a team or project effectively without specialized knowledge, highlighting the foolishness of assigning managers without relevant expertise, such as in manufacturing, where technical understanding is crucial for success.
In practice
In a training seminar for new managers, this quote can be used to stress the importance of specialized knowledge in leadership.
Competition should not be for a share of the market-but to expand the market.
The job can't be finished only improved to please the customer.
Don't expect smart people to listen to you without proof.
Quality begins with the intent, which is fixed by management.
Learn the basics of analytics and people will love you. If you don't have time to learn, hire someone.
Just because you can measure everything doesn't mean that you should.
This is one of the innovator’s dilemmas: Blindly following the maxim that good managers should keep close to their customers can sometimes be a fatal mistake.
Needless to say, it was the greatest of privileges to serve with the selfless men and women - Iraqi and American and those of our coalition partners, civilian as well as military - who did the hard, dangerous work of the surge. There seldom was an easy period; each day was tough.
I think each person, if you're a CEO, the most important thing is to have - to me, is to pick people around you that aren't like you, that complement you. Because you want to build a puzzle; you don't want to stack Chiclets up and have everyone be the same. And so I believe in diversity with a capital D.
In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you.... You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the government, while I shall have the most solemn one to preserve, protect and defend it.
We periodically note that there are no silver bullets, there are no magic formulas, there's no single action or component of the overall... comprehensive civil-military approach.
It is not about gender, it is about experience, leadership, and vision.
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