I
was helping a couple recent high-school graduates put together their
resumes as they move into the work-force full-time.
As I did so, I
was reminded of this list...I thought I would share it with you
today....
Business Facts All you
ever needed to know about work.
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A meeting is an event at
which the minutes are kept and hours are lost.
If you tell your boss you
were late for work because you had a flat tire, the very next morning
you will have a flat tire.
The probability of
meeting someone you know increases when you are with someone you don't
want to be seen with.
When you try to prove to
someone that something won't work, it will.
As
soon as you sit down to a cup of hot coffee, your boss will ask you to
do something which will last until the coffee is cold.
Anything is possible if
you don't know what you're talking about.
Logic is a systematic
method of coming to the wrong conclusion with confidence.
Technology is dominated
by those who manage what they do not understand.
The opulence of the front
office decor varies inversely with the fundamental solvency of the
firm.
The attention span of a
computer is only as long as its power cord.
An expert is one who
knows more and more about less and less until he knows absolutely
everything about nothing.
Nothing ever gets built
on schedule or within budget.
The first myth of
leadership is that it exists.
A failure will not appear
until a unit has passed final inspection.
To err is human, to blame
somebody else shows good management skills.
New
systems generate new problems.
A computer makes as
many mistakes in two seconds as 20 men working 20 years make.
Nothing
motivates a man more than to see his boss putting in an honest day's
work.
Some people manage by the book - even though
they don't know who wrote the book or even what book.
The
primary function of the design engineer is to make things difficult for
the manufacturer and impossible for the serviceman.
To
spot the expert, pick the one who predicts the job will take the
longest and will cost the most.
After all is said
and done, more is said than done.
Any
design must contain at least one part which is obsolete, two parts
which are unobtainable and three parts which are still under
development.
A complex system that works is
invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that works.
If
mathematically you end up with the incorrect answer, try multiplying by
the page number.
Any system which depends on human
reliability is unreliable.
If you can't understand
it, it is intuitively obvious.
The more cordial
the buyer's secretary, the greater the odds that the competition
already has the order.
If it's not in the
computer, it doesn't exist.
If an experiment
works, something has gone wrong.
If there is a
possibility of several things going wrong the one that will cause the
most damage will be the one to go wrong.
Any
simple theory will be worded in the most complicated way.
Build
a system that even a fool can use and only a fool will want to use it.
The
degree of technical competence is inversely proportional to the level
of management.
A difficult task will be halted
near completion by one tiny, previously insignificant detail.
There
is never time to do it right, but always time to do it over.
The
remaining work to finish in order to reach your goal increases as the
deadline approaches.
If
something breaks, and it stops you from doing something, it will be
fixed when you no longer need it; are in the middle of something else;
or don't want it to be fixed because now you don't want to do what you
were supposed to do.
The more urgent the need for
a decision to be made, less apparent becomes the identity of the
decision maker.
It is never wise to let any piece
of electronic equipment know that you are in a hurry.
Don't
fix something that ain't broke, 'cause you'll break it and you still
can't fix it.
If you are not thoroughly confused,
you have not been thoroughly informed.
Standard
parts are not.
Interchangeable products aren't.
Never
trust modern technology. Trust it only when it is old technology.
For
any given software, as soon as you master it, a new version of that
software appears.
The new version always manages
to change the one feature you need/like most.
In
today's technical environment, it is a requirement that we forget more
than we learn.
It is simple to make something
complex, and complex to make something simple.
Measurements
will be quoted in the least practical unit; velocity, for example, will
be measured in 'furlongs-per-fortnight'.
An expert
will always state the obvious.
The
chance a copy machine will break down is proportional to the importance
of the material that needs to be copied and inversely proportional to
the amount of time till the material will be needed.
A
maintenance department will neglect a customer's complaints until it
starts installations on the customer's new projects.
If
it works in theory, it won't work in practice. If it works in practice,
it won't work in theory.
No matter how clever and
complete your research is, there is always someone who knows more.
The
less intelligent the idea, and the person stating it, the more likely
it will be funded.
A man with one watch is certain
about time. A man with two watches isn't.
The more
knowledge you gain, the less certain you are of it.
Technicians
are the only ones that don't trust technology.
The
more you want to contact someone over an instant messenger is inversely
proportional to the chances that they will be online.
The
more important your email is, the worse your email program will screw
it up. And
my favorite piece of business advice…
The
probability of being watched is directly proportional to the stupidity
of your act.
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