The Human Side of Enterprise Quotes

“Above all, it is necessary to recognize that knowledge cannot be pumped into human beings the way grease is forced into a machine. The individual may learn; he is not taught.”
― Douglas McGregor, The Human Side of Enterprise

“It is probable that one day we shall begin to draw organization charts as a series of linked groups rather than as a hierarchical structure of individual “reporting” relationships. These”
― Douglas McGregor, The Human Side of Enterprise

“Delegation means that he will concern himself with the results of their activities and not with the details of their day-to-day performance. This requires a degree of confidence in them which enables him to accept certain risks. Unless he takes these risks there will be no delegation.”
― Douglas McGregor, The Human Side of Enterprise

“If we don’t destroy life on this planet before we discover how to make it possible for man to utilize his abilities to create a world in which he can live in peace, it is possible that the next half century will bring the most dramatic social changes in human history.”
― Douglas McGregor, The Human Side of Enterprise

“the group does not accept a simple majority as a proper basis for action.”
― Douglas McGregor, The Human Side of Enterprise

“There is disagreement. The group is comfortable with this and shows no signs of having to avoid conflict or to keep everything on a plane of sweetness and light. Disagreements are not suppressed or overridden by premature group action. The reasons are carefully examined, and the group seeks to resolve them rather than to dominate the dissenter.”
― Douglas McGregor, The Human Side of Enterprise

“In an organization where promotion is the sole measure of success, most people are oriented to the job to which they hope to move next. Naturally, they want to be promoted in order to prove their value, so their performance on the present job is geared exclusively to those things which will get them out of it! This,”
― Douglas McGregor, The Human Side of Enterprise

“It may be argued that intellectual achievement, as measured by consistently high grades in all subjects, is evidence of motivation and willingness to work. Perhaps it is—in the academic setting—but it is also evidence of willingness to conform to the quite arbitrary demands of the educational system. There”
― Douglas McGregor, The Human Side of Enterprise

“Perhaps the most critical point—and the one hardest to keep clearly in mind—is that help is always defined by the recipient. Taking an action with respect to someone because “it is best for him,” or because “it is for the good of the organization,” may be influencing him, but it is not providing help unless he so perceives it. Headquarters”
― Douglas McGregor, The Human Side of Enterprise

“The requirement that authority must equal responsibility is not only impossible to fulfill; it is logically unnecessary except within a system which makes authority the exclusive means of influence. The”
― Douglas McGregor, The Human Side of Enterprise