Peter Drucker Quote - Liberty Quotes Blog

"Nothing is less productive
than to make more efficient
what should not be done at all."

by:	Peter Drucker (1909-2005) American writer, management consultant, and self-described “social ecologist.” Widely considered to be the father of “modern management."
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Reader comments about this quote:

Very nice. -- Logan, Memphis, TN 4
Ahh yes, Isn't that the automated memo that gets put on most every government workers desk each Monday? ;-) -- Mike, Norwalk 3
After reading what I wrote, I don't think it came out as facetious, I was trying to be. -- Mike, Norwalk 1
Our government spends a lot of time and dollars doing things that should not be done at all. -- jim k, austin 3
I think private industry is worse than "government". Why else is it that government must bail out AIG, Citi, GM, Ford, Chrysler etcetera, ad infinitem. If these so-called titans of efficient private enterprise were put in the bright light of sunshine they would be criticized probably more than is government. Don't make the good the enemy of the perfect, it always is not possible to eliminate a procedure that "should not be done at all" it may take several iterations and political manuevering to get the procedure all the way to the trash bin. I give it two for sounding good but withhold three for it being shallow and yes therefore unproductive. -- Waffler, Smith, Arkansas 1
Government should remain inefficient -- an efficient government is a dictatorship. The reason the big banks, insurance companies, and auto makers are getting bailed out is because the name of the game IS bailout! It is not the first time and it won't be the last. With a fiat money system, someone has to get caught with the hot potato. And government always takes care of the big guys because politics is the game of the rich and powerful, not by, of and for the People as many believe. GM is hardly 'private enterprise' -- if it were, it could be allowed to file Chapter 11 and fix what needs to be fixed (i.e. renegotiate union contracts). These big guys funnel money and support to political candidates so that they will be subsidized and bailed out later. Nothing new -- it's the name of the game. Citigroup being bailed out is a DISGRACE and a con. Why not send 1 trillion dollars to the People, huh? We have to pay for it anyway later. -- E Archer, NYC 4
Hey Waffler, wasn't the public against the bailout?! Who is the government representing now? The government now is pulling the greatest robbery on the American People in history. You guys are going to be broke when the dust settles. Guess who`ll have all the money by then. -- Tony D., Toronto 3
-- RBESRQ
Some of the public was against it and some were for it. Today Citi did great on the stock market so I guess that is the portion that was for the bailout. -- Waffler, Smith, Arkansas
PS: Drucker was not talking about government but about inefficient procedures in general. Mike simply showed his stereotypical bias as usual. We all on this site have different ideas of what liberty is and what this site is about. For Mike liberty is about freedom from government. That is not what the patriots fought for but liberty to have their own government, of, by and for them. -- Waffler, Smith, Arkansas 1 1
Waffler, FYI aaaaaaa, thanks for playing, wrong again. Mike is for law, and justice with a government that is of, by and for the people - a government consisting of subordinates that represent the individual sovereign (not alien superiors that only represent the intangible ethos). Since my desired type of government doesn't exist on this continent (or anywhere else in the world that I'm aware of), I'll keep trying to return this nation to a Constitutional Republic as stated supra. And you are right, "We all on this site have different ideas of what liberty is.." (Waffler). Your idea of liberty is a conglomerate of happy slaves (where government is the most efficient example of the above quote), while mine is individual responsibility of/to self, and law - making up the most liberated society on the planet. -- Mike, Norwalk 4
WOW! You guys are really SERIOUS! I like a lot of what E. Archer had to say -- and Waffler had some good points, too -- but some of the stuff here makes no sense at all. For my part, abstraction is not my bag -- and platitudes count far less than the EFFECTS of actions. Almost all ideologies are crutches for people who either don't want to think or are incapable of complex thought. Government is never accountable when it is not transparent; why do you think people hide stuff in the first place -- to provide openness and input? I plan to begin a series on the lack of openness and accountability in govt. at the LOCAL level. Any ideas? E-mail me @ jesterfuul@aol.com -- Lou, Long Beach 2
As to the original quote, it's such a no-brainer that it's meaningless. If something is not the right thing to do, to do it more efficiently does not make it right. The REAL issue here is DETERMINING WHAT IS RIGHT. For example, if we should not have attacked Iraq, would having a "successful" "surge" justify the initial wrong act? -- Lou, Long Beach 2
Hey Lou some times in life just as in cooking we have to correct mistakes by adding this or that. Often we have to pick up the pieces and continue and do not have the option to start completely new. -- Waffler, Smith, Arkansas
-- warren, olathe
Waffler needs to realize that the financial market is not free enterprise, it is crony capitalism. Inefficient and corrupt corporations aided and abetted by a similarly defined government. -- Tim, Indianapolis, Indiana 3
Waffler said: "Hey Lou some times in life just as in cooking we have to correct mistakes by adding this or that. Often we have to pick up the pieces and continue and do not have the option to start completely new." ----- What in the world does THAT mean? -- Lou, Long Beach 1
And what is it in relation to? -- Lou, Long Beach
Waffler, the government is all the worse for bailing them out. -- Cal, Lewisville, TX 2
In its contemporary incarnation, the Federal government is a mutant Leviathan, a hideosity that exists, primarily, to contra-Constitutionally arrogate power unto itself, to do so by means of its cultivating immorality, irresponsibility, sloth and demeaning State dependency, at the nominal top and actual bottom of society. The unholy metier of most politicians, most particularly that of Pres. Trump's immediate predecessor. -- Patrick Henry, Red Hill 3
Out sourcing, vs centralized management. The ills of neglect, the value of "knowledge workers" and blue collar workers. Knowledge workers recognised as independent individuals with little oversight, innovating leadership within management. Drucker sought to champion the value of human labor, community, and civic pride within corporations large and small. Drucker point out the ills of centralized management, government being an operation of management. Separation of power and authority over the people. Reducing a need for centralized force such as the IRS and its Oppressive nature. State Sovereignty, Individual Sovereignty, recognised as true components of Pure Liberty, financial and spiritual. Found to exist as intellectual property well defined, suppressed by centralized ( government ) management,for far to long. Knowledge workers, key to innovation and restoration projects. Current project, restoration of our Constitutional Republic at Liberty, the foundation of natural law and order supplied by the Creator. -- Ronw13, Oregon 2
The Eye of the Weaver and The hands/minds of labor = Valued Property. It is The Hands of the Creator that go unmentioned, among talking heads of vanity seeking personal gain. -- Ronw13, Oregon 2
LOLZ...one of the best summations of congress yet..... -- Denise, Durango
-- jim k, austin
I think we sometimes miss the point by focusing on what we don't want or like instead of applying our energies to correcting our mistakes and making things right. -- L.ou, Long Beach 1
In other words: "When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle" (C. F. Aked), which is just another way of saying "Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing" (J.S.Mill), or "When bad men combine, good men must organize" (Burke) — all of which bring us to today's "The Only Thing Necessary for the Triumph of Evil is that Good Men Do Nothing," so let's get to work! -- L.ou, Long Beach 1
Did this fellow predict the orchestration of Conora virus? -- Fredrick William Sillik, Anytown
(-; Okay Sillik ;-) I liked your comment, I'm still smiling. -- Mike, Norwalk
Love it! Right on the button. -- E Archer, NYC
Mike Norwalk I have my reservations about you liking my comment because I believe you are a band member. I'm not smiling because this action of Conora Virus is a terrorist attack on the same level as that of September 11, 2001. -- Fredrick William Sillik, Anytown

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