Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Advice from a Management Classic



Antony Jay wrote Management and Machiavelli: An Inquiry into the Politics of Corporate Life back in 1967. He later co-authored the Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister television comedy series.

Management and Machiavelli has held up well over the years. I highly recommend it.

Jay provided these "positive guiding principles" for managers:

  1. Always take the heaviest responsibility yourself.
  2. Remember that your own craft skill is not a rampart for your defense but a barrier to your advance.
  3. Always hunt for the disquieting evidence.
  4. Spend most of your time among the most powerful group in the organization.
  5. Win opposition over to your side or at least to neutrality; don't raise your own private army to fight it.
  6. Remember that thought is a prelude, and not an alternative, to action.
  7. Look for problems through a telescope, not a microscope.


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