Hyman Rickover Quotes

We live in a world where the laws are getting so tight that management has changed to micro-management to quantum-management to paralysis.

And I'm not a micromanagement guy. I prefer to spend my time doing other stuff than that.

Networks, especially, micro-manage everything to death.

We'll always have bureaucracies, but bureaucracies led by bureaucrats might be too much of a bad thing.

The only thing that saves us from the bureaucracy is inefficiency. An efficient bureaucracy is the greatest threat to liberty.

Only to bureaucrats can the idea occur that establishing new offices, promulgating new decrees, and increasing the number of government employees alone can be described as positive and beneficial measures.

I think there is a lot of fat in the government.

To supervise people, you must either surpass them in their accomplishments or despise them.

In the discharge of the duties of this office, there is one rule of action more important than all others. It consists in never doing anything that someone else can do for you.

The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help.

So I let them be responsible for there particular areas. Then by the time it gets to me that means that there is a problem. I have my eyes open and I need to know something about every department but you don't want to micro manage any particular department.

The idea of being in control for the sake of control is not really important to me. If everyone is sharp and doing what they're doing well, you don't really need to be in control all the time.

Well, you could take several stories off the buildings of most U.S. government agencies and we'd all probably be better for it too.

You always hear about delegation, but people make the mistake of delegating and not following up. I give authority, but I stay in touch. Otherwise it doesn't work.

The eye of the master will do more work than both his hands.

Or the Department of Education and another ministry were worried about duplication of effort, so what did they do? They set up two committees to look into duplication and neither knew what the other was up to. It really is a world beyond parody.

Don't be a bottleneck. If a matter is not a decision for the President or you, delegate it. Force responsibility down and out. Find problem areas, add structure and delegate. The pressure is to do the reverse. Resist it.

England is… a country infested with people who love to tell us what to do, but who very rarely seem to know what’s going on.

One family should not have to have five case managers to get help from one state agency.

You try and pick good people and avoid micromanaging them thereafter.

Why employ intelligent and highly paid ambassadors and then go and do their work for them? You don't buy a canary and sing yourself.

Getting the U. S. Government to do anything is like herding ducks with a broom.

Excessive bureaucracy is distracting, time-consuming, and destructive to creativity.

I don't like having managers.

Once you have set the goal, give your staff the space to get there. If you micromanage, you will be able to do very little.