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If in doubt, don’t. If still in doubt, do what’s right.

Donald Rumsfeld

Simply because you do not have evidence that something exists does not mean that you have evidence that it doesn’t exist.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Evidence Existence
Be precise. A lack of precision is dangerous when the margin of error is small.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Dangerous Error Lack Margin
The price of being close to the President is delivering bad news. You fail him if you don’t tell him the truth. Others won’t do it.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Deliver Failure President Price Truth
Learn to say ‘I don’t know.’ If used when appropriate, it will be often.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Appropriate Learn Often
Many people around the President have sizeable egos before entering government, some with good reason. Their new positions will do little to moderate their egos.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Ego Government Moderate People President
If you try to please everybody, somebody’s not going to like it.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Please Try
With the press there is no ‘off the record.’
DONALD RUMSFELD

Media Record
Reduce the layers of management. They put distance between the top of an organization and the customers.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Customer Distance Management Organization
Politics is human beings; it’s addition rather than subtraction.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Government Human Being Politics
There are no “knowns.” There are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say there are things that we now know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we do not know we don’t know.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Deep Philosophy
It isn’t making mistakes that’s critical; it’s correcting them and getting on with the principal task.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Criticism Mistake Principle Task
Don’t speak ill of your predecessors or successors. You didn’t walk in their shoes.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Ill Shoes Speak Success Walk
Agreement can always be reached by increasing the generality of the conclusion; when this is done, the form is generally preserved but only the illusion of policy is created.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Agreement Conclusion Creation Illusion Increase Policy
Preserve the President’s options. He may need them.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Need Option Preserve President
Everyone’s saying you can’t do anything until you can do everything.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Motivational Work Hard
Know that the amount of criticism you receive may correlate somewhat to the amount of publicity you receive.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Criticism Publicity Receive

If in doubt, don’t. If still in doubt, do what’s right.

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If in doubt, don’t. If still in doubt, do what’s right.

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