Competition should not be for a share of the market-but to expand the market.
W. Edwards DemingRead
Eighty percent of American managers cannot answer with any measure of confidence these seemingly simple questions: What is my job? What in it really counts? How well am I doing?
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the confusion many managers face regarding their roles and effectiveness in their jobs.
W. Edwards Deming highlights a significant issue in management where a vast majority of American managers are unable to clearly define their job responsibilities, identify what truly matters in their roles, and assess their own performance. This lack of clarity can lead to inefficiency and a disconnection from organizational goals, suggesting that effective leadership requires a deep understanding of one's role and metrics of success.
Themes
ManagementLeadershipPerformanceClarityEfficiency
In practice
Example use cases
During a leadership workshop, this quote could be used to highlight the need for clear job definitions.
More from W. Edwards Deming
All quotes βThe job can't be finished only improved to please the customer.
W. Edwards DemingRead
Don't expect smart people to listen to you without proof.
W. Edwards DemingRead
Quality begins with the intent, which is fixed by management.
W. Edwards DemingRead
Learn the basics of analytics and people will love you. If you don't have time to learn, hire someone.
W. Edwards DemingRead
Just because you can measure everything doesn't mean that you should.
W. Edwards DemingRead
Similar quotes
Leadership starts with understanding responsibility, not ability. Leadership is a Stewardship, not a show.
Rick WarrenRead
A single person doesn't change an organization, but culture and good people do.
Frances HesselbeinRead
It's about communication. It's about honesty. It's about treating people in the organization as deserving to know the facts. You don't try to give them half the story. You don't try to hide the story. You treat them as - as true equals, and you communicate and you communicate and communicate.
Louis V. Gerstner, Jr.Read
How does a woman in authority convey that authority? Is it possible for a woman to rule without sounding shrill? Is it possible for a woman to manage without manipulating? All of these things seem to me to be very much at the fore today, and were no less the case 2,000 years ago.
Stacy SchiffRead
Ten strong horses could not pull an empty baby carriage if they worked independently of each other.
John WoodenRead
Prioritization sounds like such a simple thing, but true prioritization starts with a very difficult question to answer, especially at a company with a portfolio approach: If you could only do one thing, what would it be? And you can't rationalize the answer, and you can't attach the one thing to some other things. It's just the one thing.
Jeff WeinerRead