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Let’s stick something in the ground and not pretend that it’s perfect.

Donald Rumsfeld

Test ideas in the marketplace. You learn from hearing a range of perspectives. Consultation helps engender the support decisions need to be successfully implemented.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Consult Decision Ideas Market Perspective Test
Think ahead. Don’t let day-to-day operations drive out planning.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Business Operation Planning Thinking
Reduce the layers of management. They put distance between the top of an organization and the customers.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Customer Distance Management Organization
You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Army War
Prune – prune businesses, products, activities, people. Do it annually.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Activity Business People Product
If you are not criticized, you may not be doing much.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Criticism Inspirational
If it were a fact, it wouldn’t be called intelligence.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Fact Intelligence
First rule of politics: you can’t win unless you’re on the ballot. Second rule: If you run, you may lose. And, if you tie, you do not win.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Ballot Lose Politics Rule Win
Every day is filled with numerous opportunities for serious error. Enjoy it.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Enjoyment Error Opportunity Serious
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
Be precise. A lack of precision is dangerous when the margin of error is small.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Dangerous Error Lack Margin
What you measure improves.” A corollary rule in the military is that “You get what you inspect, not what you expect.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Expectation Improvement Inspect Measure Military Rule
If you develop rules, never have more than ten.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Advice Rule
If the staff lacks policy guidance against which to test decisions, their decisions will be random.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Decision Guidance Lack Random
Don’t blame the boss. He has enough problems.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Blame Boss Enough Problem
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

Let’s stick something in the ground and not pretend that it’s perfect.

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Let’s stick something in the ground and not pretend that it’s perfect.

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