Management by Quotation
April 30, 2008 by Phil Gerbyshak
Filed under Business
“We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” – Epictetus
Questions to think about:
- How can you use this quote to improve your management effectiveness?
- How can your team use this quote to improve customer relationships?
- Is this quote even good for anything, or is it just another silly quote that doesn’t mean a thing?
Flickr photo credit to Avantard
Great quote – I think it is an incredible piece of observation about our physical aspect that is so apt when it comes to management. I think the entire idea of taking up a quotation and then thinking about its applicability is brilliant – because most if the times, when we read a quote, we feel good about it for a while and then we forget. Probably a reason why my blog has a “Great Quotes” section! Thinking about quotations gives us newer perspectives – just like your questions do.
That reminds me of a great quote on listening that I also published once on my blog:
“A wise old owl lived in an oak
The more he saw, the less he spoke
The less he spoke, the more he heard
Why can’t we all be like that bird?”
Management by quotation rocks!
This is a great quote. Very pratical and particularly useful for those who are in service sector and directly deal with customers.
At least if people learn from this quote and listen twice as much as they speak the world would see a different tomorrow. However, those who follow 5:1 ration will not change their practices.
Not directly related to the topic in question but nice read nonetheless, on management:
“Hafta Man and the threat to agile design”
http://www.regdeveloper.co.uk/2008/04/30/hafta_mindsets/
Cheers.
BGL