This Focused Performance Weblog is a "business management blog" containing links and commentary related primarily to organizational effectiveness with a "Theory of Constraints" perspective. TOC is noted for its applications in Project Management and Multi-Project Management (Critical Chain) and Operations Management (Drum-Buffer-Rope), as well as in Marketing, Strategic Planning and Change Management (TOC Thinking Processes). If you are on an archive page, current postings are found here.
Friday, January 23, 2004
Friday Philosophy - Edgy Laws -- One of the best collections of serious thinkers on the web is Edge. The social, natural, cognitive and philosophical scientists gathered there is a who's who of modern thought. Every year or so, they pose a question to these folks...big questions like "What questions are you asking yourself? (1998), What is the most important invention of the past 2000 years...and why? (1999), "What's your question? (2002), and others. This year, it's "What's Your Law?" We all know Murphy's Law (Whatever can go wrong, will.), Parkinson's Law (Work expands to fill the time allowed.), and Cole's Law (Thinly sliced cabbage with a tangy mayo-based dressing.). Some of my favorites from this collection take that spirit one step further...
Mark Mirsky - Imagination precedes reality.
Art De Vany - The future is over-forecasted and underpredicted.
Stewart Brand's Pace Law - In haste, mistakes cascade. With deliberation, mistakes instruct.
Stewart Brand's Asymmetry - The past can only be known, not changed. The future can only be changed, not known.
George Lakoff - Frames trump facts.
Howard Gardner - Don't ask how smart someone is; ask in what ways is he or she is smart.
John Horgan's Second Law - Every garbage-removal system—whether Zen, skepticism, or existentialism—generates garbage. If you want to clear your mind, the best you can hope for is to find a system, or anti-system, that removes more garbage than it generates.
Art Kleiner - Every organization always operates on behalf of the perceived needs and priorities of some core group of key people. This purpose will trump every other organizational loyalty, including those to shareholders, employees, customers, and other constituents.
Matt Ridley - Science is the discovery of ignorance. It is not a catalog of facts.
Richard Nisbett - When you have the beginnings of an idea about something, the worst thing to do is to consult "the literature" before you get started to work on it. You are sure to assimilate your potentially original idea to something that is already out there.
Verena Huber-Dyson's Law of Sane Reasoning - Hone your Hunches, Jump, then backtrack to blaze a reliable trail to your Conclusion.
Steven Levy - The truth is always more interesting that your preconception of what it might be.
There's lot's more here if you're interested. By the way, one of my laws is "Resistance is in the eye of the proposer." Another, related to projects, is "No matter what the plan, schedule, or estimate, the work will take as long as the work takes." What's your law?
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