The other day we had the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Sandy Baruah come speak to us. As a former Atkinson alumnus, he was in town for something or other and was offered the opportunity to speak to us.

So he did, and the big thing I took away from his talk (and I’m paraphrasing) is this:

“A manager MUST be able to distinguish between to the good and the best.”

That is to say, as he explained, that most people in a situation can come up with a good idea; it’s not hard. But coming up with the best idea, the most efficient use of resources or the most helpful decision… THAT is what a manager must be able to do.

2 Responses to “Food for thought”

  1. on 28 Aug 2007 at 10:41 pm Gemma Atkinson Pic

    Gemma Atkinson Pic…

    I Googled for something completely different, but found your page…and have to say thanks. nice read….

  2. [...] management is about producing great work from good people. It’s about figuring out the best way to do things, not just a good way. It’s about distilling patterns from unrelated facts. [...]

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