Using Famous Quotations to Describe Bad Managers

Jim Wynne

Leader
Admin
I came across a couple of well-known quotations and thought about how well they describe what most of us think of as bad managers, and Deming's contention that American managers get paid to make things worse. I went searching for a few more, and came up with the following list:

“He is a self-made man and worships his creator.” John Bright

"He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know." Abraham Lincoln

"He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of dullness in others." Samuel Johnson

"He had delusions of adequacy." Walter Kerr

"He has the attention span of a lightning bolt." Robert Redford

"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go." Oscar Wilde

"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination." Andrew Lang

"His mind is so open - so open that ideas simply pass through it." F. H. Bradley

"[He is] The only genius with an IQ of 60." Gore Vidal

"Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative." Oscar Wilde
 

Wes Bucey

Prophet of Profit
I came across a couple of well-known quotations and thought about how well they describe what most of us think of as bad managers, and Deming's contention that American managers get paid to make things worse. I went searching for a few more, and came up with the following list:

“He is a self-made man and worships his creator.” John Bright

"He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know." Abraham Lincoln

"He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of dullness in others." Samuel Johnson

"He had delusions of adequacy." Walter Kerr

"He has the attention span of a lightning bolt." Robert Redford

"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go." Oscar Wilde

"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination." Andrew Lang

"His mind is so open - so open that ideas simply pass through it." F. H. Bradley

"[He is] The only genius with an IQ of 60." Gore Vidal

"Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative." Oscar Wilde
"Somewhere a village is lacking its idiot!" - traditional slur from British schoolmasters
 
I went searching for a few more, and came up with the following list:
I would like to add my favourite:

"He is a modest man who has much to be modest about" - Winston Churchill

and

"At least he uses modern problem solving techniques like brainstorming: He has been suffering from a constant brain storm for years" - unknown.

/Claes
 

Stijloor

Leader
Super Moderator
Some more about bosses.

From the website: happyworker.com

"By working faithfully eight hours a day, you may eventually get to be a boss and work twelve hours a day."
- Robert Frost

"The best time to start thinking about your retirement is before the boss does."
- Anonymous

"If you think your boss is stupid, remember: you wouldn't have a job if he was any smarter."
- John Gotti

"Management by objective works - if you know the objectives. Ninety percent of the time you don't."
- Peter Drucker

"Asking 'who ought to be the boss' is like asking 'who ought to be the tenor in the quartet?' Obviously, the man who can sing tenor."
- Henry Ford

"Don't blame the boss. He has enough problems."
- Donald Rumsfeld

"Show me a man who is a good loser and I'll show you a man who is playing golf with his boss."
- Jim Murray

"If you tell the boss you were late for work because you had a flat tire, the next morning you will have a flat tire."
- Cannon's Law

"The higher a monkey climbs, the more you see of his behind."
- Gen. Joe Stillwell

"So much of what we call management consists in making it difficult for people to work."
- Peter Drucker

"The first myth of management is that it exists. The second myth of management is that success equals skill."
- Robert Heller

"Everyone rises to their level of incompetence."
- Dr. Lawrence Peter

"I've been promoted to middle management. I never thought I'd sink so low."
- Tim Gould

"The key to being a good manager is keeping the people who hate you away from those who are still undecided."
- Casey Stengal

"The only time some people work like a horse is when the boss rides them."
- Gabriel Heatter

"There is an enormous number of managers who have retired on the job."
- Peter Drucker

"To make a long story short, there's nothing like having a boss walk in."
- Doris Lilly

"Lots of folks confuse bad management with destiny."
- Kin Hubbard
 

Randy

Super Moderator
"I've never had an idea I didn't like" Gen. Wesley Clark


I actually heard him say it myself:lol:

Another famous quote from Gen Clark "The weather is not a factor, I authorize the flight", and his helicopter about 1 hour later when limited visibilty "wasn't a factor":rolleyes:

(No deaths, a couple of injuries..including the General...and I still have pieces of 934 at home as momentos)
 

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Y

Yew Jin

A manager not necessary be a leader in a company as manager is a person who make sure the job is done by somebody(efficient), whereas a leader is a person who make sure a right job is done by a right people(effective).;)
 
J

jhinckley

Another famous quote from Gen Clark "The weather is not a factor, I authorize the flight", and his helicopter about 1 hour later when limited visibilty "wasn't a factor":rolleyes:

(No deaths, a couple of injuries..including the General...and I still have pieces of 934 at home as momentos)

And he wanted to be President. :lol:
 
J

Jimmy the Brit

I always liked this comment from a British army annual review: "His men would follow him anywhere, but only out of morbid curiosity"
 
A

Arjay

I was actually going to start a thread like this if I didn't find one already here. :D I've been wanting to have a place to let out the quotes that left me with an impression from this book of quotes I've been reading.

Don't say things. What you are stands over you the while, and thunders so that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary. -Emerson, Social Aims

He was like the cock who thought the sun had risen to hear him crow. -George Elliot, Adam Bede

You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time. -Lincoln, Lincoln's Yarns and Stories

O, what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practice to deceive! -Walter Scott, Marmion, VI

O what a goodly outside falsehood hath! -Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice, 1, 3

The greatest of faults, I should say, is to be conscious of none. -Caryle, Heroes and Hero-Worship

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; and put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! -Old Testament, Isiah, V, 20

To be ignorant of one's ignorance is the malady of the ignorant. -A.B. Alcott, Table Talk

Ignorance is degrading only when found in company with riches. -Schopenauer, Essays: On Books and Readings

That's all for now. I've only gotten to I so far (the quotes were categorized by topic). :tg:
 
A

Arjay

Re: From: 400+ One-liners to Spice up Your Presentations

Friends,

I found this site while browsing: 400+ one-liners.

Useful to spice up presentations. If humor fits your style....:D

Happy New Year!

Stijloor.

I just had to express my thanks for this one! :biglaugh:I had tears rolling down my face at times from laughing too hard. Anyway, some of these are related to this thread so I hope it's alright that I expressed this here. :)
 
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