Organizational Quotes & Sayings

All organizations have habits and cultures. The question is whether they are designed deliberately, or allowed to form without guidance. Dysfunctional cultures tend to come from the latter. Organizational — Edify.me

Politics is a kind of problem solving. No matter what organizational challenge you face, and how frustrating it might be, it's just another kind of problem to solve. — Scott Berkun

The gap between thought and action, between belief and will, prevents us solving our most pressing individual and societal problems. — Paul Gibbons

Do you want to resolve a conflict successfully? Don't wait, start a conversation. — Eraldo Banovac

And regulation entails organizational effectiveness, a chain of command, and a structure for logistical support. — Sun Tzu

The most interesting aspect for me, composing exclusively with patterns, is that there is not one organizational procedure more advantageous than another, perhaps because no one pattern ever takes precedence over the others. — Morton Feldman

How can a modern anthropologist embark upon a generalization with any hope of arriving at a satisfactory conclusion? By thinking of the organizational ideas that are present in any society as a mathematical pattern. — Edmund Leach

By comparison, the Integrated Human model of human nature, in addition to the two elements of our previous model, includes: A conscious analytic system, known as the slow brain (where logic resides) A subconscious intuitive system, or fast brain The full range of motivational drives (of which the drive to acquire is only one) Basic ideas of moral behavior, or moral intuitions Distinguishing characteristics, or personality traits Together, these elements of our nature provide all of the fundamental functions necessary for living life as a complete, Integrated Human - and they are the springboard for the development of leadership character. As our research data has shown, the ability to leverage all of these areas influence leadership's ability to achieve positive organizational outcomes. — Fred Kiel

It's between $1 million and $10 million that the team needs to focus on cash. Growth sucks cash, and since this is the first time the company will make a tenfold jump in size, the demands for cash will soar. In addition, at this stage of organizational development, the company is still trying to figure out its unique position in the marketplace, and these experiments (or mistakes) can be costly. This is when the cash model of the business needs to be worked out (e.g., "How is the business model going to generate sufficient cash for the company to keep growing?"). — Verne Harnish

One of the primary mistakes that leaders today make, when called to lead, is spending most of their time and energy trying to improve things at the organizational level before ensuring that they have adequately addressed their own credibility at individual, one-on-one, or team leadership levels. — Kenneth H. Blanchard

In this prison camp, the Gestapo state brain-police planet Earth, what is normal is insane and what is insane is normal. But it doesn't pay to tell that to the local politicians or other organizational structures that run the place that. They didn't crucify Christ because they liked what he said. — Frederick Lenz

In advanced societies it is not the race politicians or the "rights" leaders who create the new ideas and the new images of life and man. That role belongs to the artists and intellectuals of each generation. Let the race politicians, if they will, create political, economic or organizational forms of leadership; but it is the artists and the creative minds who will, and must, furnish the all important content. And in this role, they must not be subordinated to the whims and desires of politicians, race leaders and civil rights entrepreneurs whether they come from the Left, Right, or Center, or whether they are peaceful, reform, violent, non-violent or laissez-faire. Which means to say, in advanced societies the cultural front is a special one that requires special techniques not perceived, understood, or appreciated by political philistines. — Harold Cruse

I'd say that my profession ends where architectural thinking ends - architectural thinking in terms of thinking about programs and organizational structure. These abstractions play a role in many other disciplines, and those disciplines are now defining their 'architectures' as well. — Rem Koolhaas

perpetual inbox obsession wasn't an organizational expectation; rather, it was fueled by a deep insecurity that something important was going to happen and that he wouldn't respond in time to contribute meaningfully to the conversation. — Todd Henry

Chris Argyris criticized "good communication that blocks learning," arguing that formal communication mechanisms like focus groups and organizational surveys in effect give employees mechanisms for letting management know what they think without taking any responsibility for problems and their role in doing something about them. These mechanisms fail because "they do not get people to reflect on their own work and behavior. They do not encourage individual accountability. — Peter M. Senge

Getting your ego out of the way has an even deeper organizational impact. — Ken Jennings

The main reason we were close and worked in the way we did was that it was a collaboration that was based on more than just the traditional view of design," Ive says. "We both perceived objects in our environment, and people, and organizational structures intuitively in the same way. Beauty can be conceptual, it can be symbolic, it can stand as testament to progress and what humankind has managed to achieve in the last fifteen years. In that sense, it could represent progress, or it could be something as trivial as the machined face on a screw. That's why we got on well, 'cause we both thought that way. If my contribution was simply to the shapes of things, we wouldn't have spent so much time together. It makes no sense that the CEO of a company this size would spend nearly every lunchtime and big chunks of the afternoon with somebody who just was preoccupied with form. — Brent Schlender

In companies whose wealth is intellectual capital, networks, rather than hierarchies, are the right organizational design. — Thomas A. Stewart

Individual learning is a necessary but insufficient condition for organizational learning. — Chris Argyris

If just a tiny fraction of the sums spent on scientific and technological research and innovation were devoted to labs for designing and testing new organizational and institutional structures, we might have a much broader range of options to head off the looming implosion. — Alvin Toffler

Bureaucratic categories and organizational boxes do more than simply separate relevant from irrelevant information. They also produce the social optics that policymakers and bureaucrats use to see the world. Before policymakers can act, they first must come to create a definition and understanding of the situation, and that understanding is mediated by how the institution is organized to think. ...How organizations categorize and carve up the world has a profound impact on how policymakers see the world. — Michael Barnett

Organizational busy work tends to expand to fill the working day. — Tom DeMarco

Organizational success comes when IT and business act from "IT vs. business" to IT is business" - a true partnership. — Pearl Zhu

Strauss Group continues to strengthen its future growth engines, improve the company's competitive position, and increase market share, while continuing streamlining processes, improvements, and carrying out organizational adjustments in the company. — Ofra Strauss

We can never fall short when it comes to recruiting, hiring, maintaining and growing our workforce. It is the employees who make our organization's success a reality. — Vern Dosch

In this book, the history of American religion is the history of human actions and human organizations, not the history of ideas (refined or otherwise). But this is not to say that we regard theology as unimportant. To the contrary, we shall argue repeatedly that religious organizations can thrive only to the extent that they have a theology that can comfort souls and motivate sacrifice. In a sense, then, we are urging an underlying model of religious history that is the exact opposite of one based on progress through theological refinement. We shall present compelling evidence that theological refinement is the kind of progress that results in organizational bankruptcy. — Roger Finke

It's right around this time that her Grandmother Hall dies. And Eleanor Roosevelt is responsible for making all the funeral arrangements. And there are a couple of things that she really understands, as she contemplates her grandmother's life and makes the funeral arrangements. One, she's really talented, an organizational woman. She knows how to do things. She begins to compare her life to her grandmother's life. And it's very clear to her that being a devoted wife and a devoted mother is not enough. — Blanche Wiesen Cook

To the disrupters go the spoils. — Heather Simmons

This isn't just a book about organizational change - it's also about — Daryl R. Conner

Pastors, elders, and members often misinterpret the church through business and organizational lenses. — Jeramie Rinne

What being among the 'right people' entails is the possession of human capital, rather than organizational capital: an individual reputation, portable skills, and network connections. Career responsibility is squarely in the hands of individuals, a function of their knowledge and networks. Transferable knowledge is more important to a career than firm-specific knowledge. — Rosabeth Moss Kanter

In short, apostolic movement involves a radical community of disciples, centered on the lordship of Jesus, empowered by the Spirit, built squarely on a fivefold ministry, organized around mission where everyone (not just professionals) is considered an empowered agent, and tends to be decentralized in organizational structure. — Alan Hirsch

Basic philosophy, spirit and drive of an organization have far more to do with its relative achievements than do technological or economic resources, organizational structure, innovation and timing. — Marvin Bower

To make a decision, all you need is authority. To make a good decision, you also need knowledge, experience, and insight. — Denise Moreland

From the systems point of view, it is evident that one of the main obstacles to organizational change is the - largely unconscious - embrace by business leaders of the mechanistic approach to management. — Fritjof Capra

I came to the conclusion long ago that limits to innovation have less to do with technology or creativity than organizational agility. Inspired individuals can only do so much. — Ray Stata

Managers who master the hammer and expect all problems to behave like nails find organizational life confusing and frustrating. — Lee Bolman

Great leaders create great cultures regardless of the dominant culture in the organization. — Bob Anderson

When any organizational entity expands beyond 21 members, the real power will be in some smaller body. — C. Northcote Parkinson

Destructive organizational habits can be found within hundreds of industries and at thousands of firms. And almost always, they are the products of thoughtlessness, of leaders who avoid thinking about the culture and so let it develop without guidance. There are no organizations without institutional habits. There are only places where they are deliberately designed, and places where they are created without forethought, so they often grow from rivalries or fear. — Charles Duhigg

The current social organization is a sophisticated lie and invisible prison without bars. — Bryant McGill

Here is Max De Pree at his best, and that is very good indeed. In Leading Without Power, De Pree shows us why we cannot master the how-to-dos of effective leadership without also being clear about what leaders?and followers?must be. In doing so, he not only provides us with much practical wisdom about creative leading and organizational health, he also nurtures our souls. This is a book to be savored by all who care about such things as vision, faithfulness, trust, and hope. — Richard J. Mouw

Regarding quality, the following rule is very important: do each activity right at the first time with the aim of saving money and time. Regardless of the process under consideration, the activities that were carried out badly may cause repetitions with considerable additional costs. — Eraldo Banovac

Consider an event from the life of Napoleon Bonaparte, one of the world's greatest military strategists: During a meeting, his subordinates informed Napoleon Bonaparte of a new general who was turning out to be extremely capable. The new man's bravery, skill, determination and organizational capabilities were outlined for Napoleon in great detail. Napoleon waved his hand impatiently. 'That's all very well,' said Napoleon. 'But tell me: Is he lucky?' Napoleon's question may sound rather strange in our times, but he saw luck as a personal trait rather than an extraneous factor. A — Ashwin Sanghi

The general election is not an organizational exercise - it's a mass media exercise. — Roger Stone

High personal standards aren't enough for organizational excellence. You've got to be intolerant of low standards in others ... If you accommodate questionable practices in others who touch your organization, you risk soiling its reputation. Anybody whose hands aren't clean can get the place dirty. — Price Pritchett

Linking the digital and physical worlds in these ways will have profound implications for both. But this future won't be realized unless the Internet of Things learns from the history of the Internet. The open standards and decentralized design of the Internet won out over competing proprietary systems and centralized control by offering fewer obstacles to innovation and growth. This battle has resurfaced with the proliferation of conflicting visions of how devices should communicate. The challenge is primarily organizational, rather then technological, a contest between command-and-control technology and distributed solutions. The Internet of Things demands the latter, and openness will eventually triumph. — Anonymous

I don't really like organizations where people are "deemed" things. — Mindy Kaling

Learning" and "Performance" are key fundamental themes of better organizational governance. — Pearl Zhu

We do as much harm holding onto programs and people past their natural life span as we do when we employ massive organizational air strikes. However, destroying comes at the end of life's cycle, not as a first response. — Margaret J. Wheatley

Grove's Law: All large organizations with a common business purpose end up in a hybrid organizational form. — Andrew S. Grove

Ronald Burt, looked at the origin of good ideas inside the organizational network of the Raytheon Corporation. Burt found that innovative thinking was much more likely to emerge from individuals who bridged "structural holes" between tightly knit clusters. Employees who primarily shared information with people in their own division had a harder time coming up with useful suggestions — Steven Johnson

Oh, a Container Store," I gush upon seeing the organizational store.

"Does that get you all hot and bothered, Chloe? Did you want to stop?"

"Shut up," I say as we cross the street. "Maybe later. — Jana Aston

TRUST AND FAIRNESS DEVELOP HARMONY — Miguel Reynolds Brandao

One of his motivating passions was to build a lasting company. At age twelve, when he got a summer job at Hewlett-Packard, he learned that a properly run company could spawn innovation far more than any single creative individual. " I discovered that the best innovation is sometimes the company, the way you organize a company," he recalled." The whole notion of how you build a company is fascinating. When i got the chance to come back to Apple, I realized that I would be useless without the company, and that's why I decided to stay and rebuild it. — Walter Isaacson

It is an illusion that once upon a time managers could make their direct reports do whatever was needed. Nobody has ever had enough authority - they never have and never will. Organizational life is too complicated for that. — Allan R. Cohen

Indeed, nearly all attempts to exterminate a doctrine and its organizational expression, by force without spiritual foundation, are doomed to failure, and not seldom end with the exact opposite of the desired result ... — Adolf Hitler

Titles or organizational structures, that's not the lens through which we see our peers, — Jonathan Ive

The use of KPIs is meant to improve and transform the organizational performance. — Pearl Zhu

Control in business is the combination of written and unwritten rules that create an organizational decision framework and staff hierarchy. — Holly Duckworth

If Clausewitz is right, no one should develop a strategy without taking into account the effects of organizational friction. Yet we continue to be surprised and frustrated when it manifests itself. We tend to think everything has gone wrong when in fact everything has gone normally. — Stephen Bungay

Although exalted in Organizational rank, they were not remarkable men. First-class minds, being interested in the truth, tend to select other first-class minds as companions. Second-class minds, on the other hand, being interested in themselves, will select third-class comrades in order to maintain the illusion of superiority. — Shirley Hazzard

John-Paul did not have the requisite organizational abilities to handle bigamy. He would have slipped up long ago. Turned up at the wrong house. Called one of his wives by the wrong name. He'd be constantly leaving his possessions at the other place. — Liane Moriarty

Chakras are organizational centers for the reception, assimilation, and transmission of life-force energy. They are the stepping stones between heaven and earth. — Anodea Judith

What, actually, is the difference between communism and fascism? Both are forms of statism, authoritarianism. The only difference between Stalin's communism and Mussolini's fascism is an insignificant detail in organizational structure. — Leonard Read

The competencies most relevant to an SSAO role include assessment, evaluation and research, human and organizational resources, law, policy and governance, and leadership. — C. Casey Ozaki

Today, brands are not the preserve of marketing department. Brands are too important to be left to the marketing department - or any other 'department,' come to that. Organizational ghettoes do not create vibrant world-changing brands. — Thomas Gad

Trust grows when people see leaders translate their personal integrity into organizational fidelity. At the heart of fidelity lies truth-telling and promise-keeping. — Max De Pree

The first step in turning around your organization's performance? Think positively about the people you lead. — Cheryl A. Bachelder

To survive in modern times, a company must have an organizational structure that accepts change as its basic premise, lets tribal customs thrive, and fosters a power that is derived from respect, not rules. In other words, the successful companies will be the ones that put quality of life first. Do this and the rest - quality of product, productivity of workers, profits for all - will follow. — Ricardo Semler

Above all, success in business requires two things: a winning competitive strategy, and superb organizational execution. Distrust is the enemy of both. I submit that while high trust won't necessarily rescue a poor strategy, low trust will almost always derail a good one. — Stephen Covey

If we think that innovation comes from a lone genius inventing a new technology from scratch, that model naturally steers us toward certain policy decisions, like stronger patent protection. But if we think that innovation comes out of collaborative networks, then we want to support different policies and organizational forms: less rigid patent laws, open standards, employee participation in stock plans, cross-disciplinary connections. — Steven Johnson

Organizational culture is just like the "Operation System" of the organization, you need reboot periodically to keep it running smoothly. — Pearl Zhu

Organizational systems and cultures tend to favor "stars" over groups, — Anonymous

Today we hear a great deal about Organizational Men, Mass Culture, Conformity, the Lonely Crowd, the Power Elite and its Conspiracy of Mediocrity. We forget that the very volume of this criticism is an indication that our society is still radically pluralistic. Not only are there plenty of exceptionalists who take exception to the stereotyping of the mass culture but that very string of epithets comes from a series of books that have been recent best-sellers, symptoms of a popular, living tradition of dissent from things as they are. — Kenneth Rexroth

Authentic leaders inspire us to engage with each other in powerful dreams that make the impossible possible. We are called on to persevere despite failure and pursue a purpose beyond the paycheck. This is at the core of innovation. It requires aligning the dreams of each individual to the broader dream of the organization. — Henna Inam

There is no check-box for ethical leadership.
It is an ongoing individual and organizational journey.
We will never know everything that there is to know. — Linda Fisher Thornton

It is common understanding that communication is at the heart of any organisation. So, why have organisational models not evolved accordingly? To truly leverage the potential of this information age, we need to rethink and redesign organisations — Miguel Reynolds Brandao

It is up to the leader to create a healthy environment where people are not afraid to fail. Mistakes should be seen as an integral part of the organizational process. They are a normal part of striving for excellence. — Andrew Harvey

The punch line is 'knock the morale of an employee and organizational productivity is punctured'. — Henrietta Newton Martin

Dialogue reminds us that we can question to build, not only to doubt or deconstruct. — Oli Anderson

When I visit a new bookstore, I demand cleanliness, computer monitors, and rigorous alphabetization. When I visit a secondhand bookstore, I prefer indifferent housekeeping, sleeping cats, and sufficient organizational chaos ... — Anne Fadiman

The high-mature organizational capability is the digital business differentiator, to keep the business unique, competitive, innovative, and improve the overall business maturity significantly. — Pearl Zhu

The next major revolution was not technological, but organizational. — Gary F. Marcus

Good units walk a thin line between indiscipline and ineffectiveness. Ignore the rules too often and you've got a mob, but enforce the rules too strictly and you've got a herd. — Henry V. O'Neil

The overall organizational health needs to be measured via employee engagement, culture readiness, business agility, and customer-centricity, etc. — Pearl Zhu

A good rule in organizational analysis is that no meeting of the minds is really reached until we talk of specific actions or decisions. We can talk of who is responsible for budgets, or inventory, or quality, but little is settled. It is only when we get down to the action words-measure, compute, prepare, check, endorse, recommend, approve-that we can make clear who is to do what. — Joseph M. Juran

We've organized ourselves as cultures, to a large degree, around what we agree we know. And when you have multiple ways of knowing, multiple ways of organizing, the society loses one of its deepest organizational principles. — David Weinberger

Today nothing is more modern than the onslaught against the political. American financiers, industrial technicians, Marxist socialists, and anarchic-syndicalist revolutionaries unite in demanding that the biased rule of politics over unbiased economic management be done away with. There must no longer be political problems, only organizational-technical and economic-sociological tasks. The kind of economic-technical thinking that prevails today is no longer capable of perceiving a political idea. The modern state seems to have actually become what Max Weber envisioned: a huge industrial plant. — Carl Schmitt

It occurred to me that building a company was the best way to align a group of people towards building something great. And its really ... It's a good organizational structure where you can really reward people. If they're building something that's good, you can you work with partners and reward them if the product that you're developing work well. It's a good way to get the best people involved to build something very good. — Mark Zuckerberg

In Biblical times, there were two different kinds of currency. One was shekels, which means weights,. The other coin was a zuz, which comes from the earth's circular movement and had nothing to do with the value of gold or silver. It had its own inherent value to it. The word "amen" was inscribed in the zuz, which is an acronym in Hebrew for the phrase "El Melech Neeman," meaning "the sovereign is trustworthy" and is an organizational copy of the statement "In God We Trust" that is found on our U.S. money. — Celso Cukierkorn

Dialogue teaches you to listen through your emotions, not to become distracted or distanced from the truth because of them. — Oli Anderson

For the last hundred years the big organizational question has been whether any given task was best taken on by the state, directing the effort in a planned way, or by businesses competing in a market. — Clay Shirky

I try to motivate people and align our individual incentives with organizational incentives. And then let people do their best. — John Liu

Managers and leaders cause most of the organizational confusion and frustration by not doing their jobs - their real jobs. — Liz Weber

Email has the virtue - sounds like a bad thing, but it's the virtue of being the lowest common denominator messaging protocol. Everyone can have it. It can cross organizational boundaries. No one owns it. It's not some particular company's platform. — Stewart Butterfield

A brand vision should attempt to go beyond functional benefits to consider organizational values; a higher purpose; brand personality; and emotional, social, and self-expressive benefits. — David A. Aaker

Single-minded, determined, and intelligent organizational talent probably can create an effective army from any group of men. — Trevor N. Dupuy

Simon received the Nobel Prize in 1978 for his contribution to organizational decision making: It is impossible to have perfect and complete information at any given time to make a decision. — Timothy Ferriss

I think of everything and I'm pretty sure if I could use my organizational skills for something else, like wildlife survival kits or preparing people for nuclear warfare, I'd be a millionaire. Or at the very least actually a useful human being. — Corey Ann Haydu