Leadership Is Language: The Hidden Power of What You Say--and What You Don't

by L. David Marquet

We did not have just bluework and redwork, we had blueworkers and redworkers. One group—the blueworkers—made the decisions, while another group—the redworkers—executed those decisions. One group did the thinking; the other did the doing. One group embraced variability; the other group worked to reduce variability. One group led; the other followed. Assigning the different modes of work to different groups of workers simplified the task of management and fit the times. It drove the organizational design of the Industrial Age. It also shaped the management practices and even the default language of the workplace.