These are quotes which stood out to me, possibly for use in a sermon someday. Their presence here does not mean I agree with them, it merely shows that I might want to reference them later. The default view is five random selections. Use the tag list on the right to view all quotes relevant to that theme.
An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made, in a narrow field.
Two hundred years ago in America people were scared of wolves. In fact, bounties were paid for killing wolves. Nowadays if you kill a wolf you get a fine! This is a powerful metaphor: if you kill enough wolves pretty soon you need to protect them. (this is not verbatim)
Edward Gibbon, author of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, has attributed the fall of the Empire to: 1. The rapid increase of divorce; the undermining of the dignity and sanctity of the home, which is the basis of human society. 2. Higher and higher taxes and the spending of public monies for free bread and circuses for the populace. 3. The mad craze for pleasure; sports becoming every year more exciting and more brutal. 4. The building of gigantic armaments when the real enemy was within, the decadence of the people. 5. The decay of religion--faith fading into mere form, losing touch with life and becoming impotent to warn and guide the people. Edward Gibbon.
If time is precious, no book that will not improve by repeated readings deserves to be read at all.
Q: Most organizations try to simplify and streamline. But you seem to say that organizations should become more complicated. A: It's the law of requisite variety, which says that if you want to make sense of a complex world, you've got to have an internal system that is equally complex. A good example is the Naskapi Indians of Labrador. Their problem is where to hunt for caribou. The hunter holds the shoulder blade of a caribou over a fire until it develops cracks. Then somebody reads those cracks to see where the caribou are likely to be. The wisdom of this practice is that it randomizes the hunter's behavior, making it harder for the caribou to learn where the hunter is likely to be. It also ensures that some areas don't become overhunted. The translation should be clear to people running businesses. In fact, there are examples in Asian management practices of ancient rituals being given considerable stature.