Don’t necessarily avoid sharp edges. Occasionally they are necessary to leadership.
DONALD RUMSFELDDon’t blame the boss. He has enough problems.
More Donald Rumsfeld Quotes
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Amidst all the clutter, beyond all the obstacles, aside from all the static, are the goals set. Put your head down, do the best job possible, let the flak pass, and work towards those goals.
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Reduce the number of lawyers. They are like beavers – they get in the middle of the stream and dam it up.
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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.
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If you try to please everybody, somebody’s not going to like it.
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Everyone’s saying you can’t do anything until you can do everything.
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Don’t blame the boss. He has enough problems.
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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.
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Learn to say ‘I don’t know.’ If used when appropriate, it will be often.
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If the staff lacks policy guidance against which to test decisions, their decisions will be random.
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Don’t speak ill of your predecessors or successors. You didn’t walk in their shoes.
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Think ahead. Don’t let day-to-day operations drive out planning.
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It is easier to get into something than to get out of it.
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If in doubt, don’t. If still in doubt, do what’s right.
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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.
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Know that the amount of criticism you receive may correlate somewhat to the amount of publicity you receive.
DONALD RUMSFELD