Activity quotes

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Christopher_Wolfgang_Alexander

Complexity

“Today more and more design problems are reaching insoluble levels of complexity... In spite of their superficial simplicity, even these problems have a background of needs and activities which is becoming too complex to grasp intuitively.”
Keywords: Complexity_quotes Design_quotes Intuition_quotes Today_quotes Problem_quotes Reach_quotes Insoluble_quotes Level_quotes Superficial_quotes Simplicity_quotes Background_quotes Need_quotes Activity_quotes Become_quotes Grasp_quotes

Marcus_Aurelius

Mend A Fault

“To retract or mend a fault at the admonition of a friend in no way hurts your liberty, for it is still your own activity which by means of your own impulse and judgment, and by your own mind, makes you see your mistake.”
Keywords: Retract_quotes Mend_quotes Fault_quotes Admonition_quotes Friend_quotes Hurt_quotes Liberty_quotes Activity_quotes Impulse_quotes Judgment_quotes Mind_quotes Mistake_quotes Criticism_quotes

Robert_N_Britcher

Verification Percent

“Over 70 percent of the technical budget was spent on verification activities such as inspections and testing; only 30 percent was spent designing and writing code.”
  • Source: Britcher, Robert N. (1999). The Limits of Software: People, Projects, and Perspectives. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley. ISBN 0-201-43323-0. Page 117.
Keywords: Budget_quotes Verification_quotes Inspection_quotes Testing_quotes Design_quotes Writing_quotes Coding_quotes Programming_quotes Software_quotes Development_quotes Technical_quotes Spend_quotes Activity_quotes

Stephen_Covey

Wrong Wall

"It’s incredibly easy to get caught up in an activity trap, in the busy-ness of life, to work harder and harder at climbing the ladder of success only to discover it’s leaning against the wrong wall."
  • Source: From the book "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen R. Covey, Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind, page 98, published 1988 by Free Press: A Division of Simon & Schuster, New York, NY.
Keywords: Incredible_quotes Easy_quotes Caught_quotes Up_quotes Activity_quotes Trap_quotes Busy_quotes Life_quotes Work_quotes Hard_quotes Climb_quotes Ladder_quotes Success_quotes Discovery_quotes Lean_quotes Wrong_quotes Wall_quotes

Nigel_Cross

Conventional Problem Solving

"Conventional wisdom about problem-solving seems often to be contradicted by the behavior of expert designers. But designing has many differences from conventional problem-solving. ... we must be very wary about importing models of design behavior from other fields. Empirical studies of design activity have frequently found 'intuitive' features of design ability to be the most effective and relevant to the intrinsic nature of design. Some aspects of design theory, however, have tried to develop counter-intuitive models and prescriptions for design behavior."
Keywords: Convention_quotes Wisdom_quotes Problem_quotes Solution_quotes Contradiction_quotes Expert_quotes Design_quotes Model_quotes Behavior_quotes Empirical_quotes Research_quotes Activity_quotes Intuition_quotes Ability_quotes Relevance_quotes Intrinsic_quotes Nature_quotes Theory_quotes Prescription_quotes Feature_quotes Field_quotes Effective_quotes

Mihaly_Csikszentmihalyi

Autotelic

“The key element of an optimal experience is that it is an end in itself. Even if initially undertaken for other reasons, the activity that consumes us becomes intrinsically rewarding... When the experience is autotelic, the person is paying attention to the activity for its own sake; when it is not, the attention is focused on its consequences.”
  • Source: Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in the book “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience“, chapter “The Autotelic Experience”, page 67. Original content published by Harper Perennial Modern Classics in 1990. Kindle edition published by Harper Collins in 2008. ISBN: 978-0061876721.
Keywords: Key_quotes Element_quotes Optimal_quotes Experience_quotes End_quotes Itself_quotes Initial_quotes Undertake_quotes Reason_quotes Activity_quotes Consume_quotes Intrinsic_quotes Reward_quotes Autotelic_quotes Person_quotes Pay_quotes Attention_quotes Sake_quotes Focus_quotes Consequence_quotes

Flow

“In our studies, we found that every flow activity, whether it involved competition, chance, or any other dimension of experience, had this in common: It provided a sense of discovery, a creative feeling of transporting the person into a new reality. It pushed the person to higher levels of performance, and led to previously undreamed-of states of consciousness. In short, it transformed the self by making it more complex. In this growth of the self lies the key to flow activities.”
  • Source: Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in the book “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience“, chapter “Flow Activities”, page 74. Original content published by Harper Perennial Modern Classics in 1990. Kindle edition published by Harper Collins in 2008. ISBN: 978-0061876721.
Keywords: Flow_quotes Activity_quotes Involve_quotes Competition_quotes Chance_quotes Dimension_quotes Experience_quotes Common_quotes Provide_quotes Sense_quotes Discovery_quotes Creative_quotes Feel_quotes Transport_quotes Person_quotes Reality_quotes Push_quotes Higher_quotes Level_quotes Performance_quotes Led_quotes Previous_quotes Undream_quotes Dream_quotes State_quotes Consciousness_quotes Transform_quotes Self_quotes Make_quotes Complex_quotes Growth_quotes Key_quotes

Tom_DeMarco and Tim_Lister

Error Quota

"For most thinking workers, making an occasional mistake is a natural and healthy part of their work. But there can be an almost Biblical association between error on the job and sin. This is an attitude we need to take specific pains to change. Speaking to a group of software managers, we introduced a strategy for what we think of as iterative design. The idea is that some designs are intrinsically defect-prone; they ought to be rejected, not repaired. Such dead ends should be expected in the design activity. The lost effort of the dead end is a small price to pay for a clean, fresh start. To our surprise, many managers felt this would pose an impossible political problem for their own bosses: 'How can we throw away a product that our company has paid to produce?' They seemed to believe that they’d be better off salvaging the defective version even though it might cost more in the long run. Fostering an atmosphere that doesn’t allow for error simply makes people defensive. They don’t try things that may turn out badly. You encourage this defensiveness when you try to systematize the process, when you impose rigid methodologies so that staff members are not allowed to make any of the key strategic decisions lest they make them incorrectly. The average level of technology may be modestly improved by any steps you take to inhibit error. The team sociology, however, can suffer grievously. The opposite approach would be to encourage people to make some errors. You do this by asking your folks on occasion what dead-end roads they’ve been down, and by making sure they understand that 'none' is not the best answer. When people blow it, they should be congratulated — that’s part of what they’re being paid for."
  • Source: Book: Entitled: Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams. Edition: 3rd. Written by: Tom DeMarco; Tim Lister. Date published: 1987; 1999; 2013. Publisher: Addison-Wesley. Country: USA; GBR; CAN; DEU; FRA; ESP; ZAF; AUS; JPN; SGP; MEX. Language: en. ISBN: ISBN-13: 978-0-321-93411-6 (alk paper); 0-321-93411-3 (alk paper). Chapter: 2 (Make a Cheeseburger, Sell a Cheeseburger).
Keywords: Thinking_quotes Worker_quotes Mistake_quotes Work_quotes Natural_quotes Biblical_quotes Error_quotes Job_quotes Sin_quotes Attitude_quotes Change_quotes Software_quotes Manager_quotes Strategy_quotes Iterative_quotes Design_quotes Defect_quotes Intrinsic_quotes Rejection_quotes Repair_quotes Dead_End_quotes Failure_quotes Fail_Early_quotes Activity_quotes Effort_quotes Cost_quotes Clean_quotes Fresh_quotes Impossibility_quotes Political_quotes Problem_quotes Environment_quotes Atmosphere_quotes Defensive_quotes Try_quotes Systematic_quotes Process_quotes Rigidity_quotes Methodology_quotes Technology_quotes Team_quotes Sociology_quotes Suffering_quotes Encouragement_quotes Congratulate_quotes

Kicking Ass

"Management is a complex enough thing to defy simple definition, but that nuance was lost on one senior manager we encountered at a professional society meeting in London. He summed up his entire view of the subject with this statement: 'Management is kicking ass.' This equates to the view that managers provide all the thinking and the people underneath them just carry out their bidding. Again, that might be workable for cheeseburger production, but not for any effort for which people do the work with their heads rather than their hands. Everyone in such an environment has got to have the brain in gear. You may be able to kick people to make them active, but not to make them creative, inventive, and thoughtful. Even if kicking people in the backside did boost their short-term productivity, it might not be useful in the long run. There is nothing more discouraging to any worker than the sense that his own motivation is inadequate and has to be 'supplemented' by that of the boss. The saddest thing about this management approach is that it’s almost always superfluous. You seldom need to take Draconian measures to keep your people working; most of them love their work. You may even have to take steps sometimes to make them work less, and thus get more meaningful work done."
  • Source: Book: Entitled: Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams. Edition: 3rd. Written by: Tom DeMarco; Tim Lister. Date published: 1987; 1999; 2013. Publisher: Addison-Wesley. Country: USA; GBR; CAN; DEU; FRA; ESP; ZAF; AUS; JPN; SGP; MEX. Language: en. ISBN: ISBN-13: 978-0-321-93411-6 (alk paper); 0-321-93411-3 (alk paper). Chapter: 2 (Make a Cheeseburger, Sell a Cheeseburger).
Keywords: Management_quotes Complexity_quotes Manager_quotes Nuance_quotes Kicking_quotes Thinking_quotes Worker_quotes Cheeseburger_quotes Production_quotes Environment_quotes Brain_quotes Activity_quotes Creativity_quotes Invention_quotes Productivity_quotes Short_Term_quotes Long_Run_quotes Discouragement_quotes Motivation_quotes Inadequate_quotes Superfluous_quotes Draconian_quotes Work_quotes Meaning_quotes

Edsger_Wybe_Dijkstra

Powers of Abstraction

“The effective exploitation of his powers of abstraction must be regarded as one of the most vital activities of a competent programmer.”
  • Source: The Humble Programmer (1972), 1972 Turing Award Lecture[1], Communications of the ACM 15 (10), October 1972: pp. 859–866.
Keywords: Effectiveness_quotes Exploitation_quotes Power_quotes Abstraction_quotes Activity_quotes Competence_quotes Programmer_quotes Programming_quotes Vital_quotes

Freeman_Dyson

Science and Society

“In the modern world, science and society often interact in a perverse way. We live in a technological society, and technology causes political problems. The politicians and the public expect science to provide answers to the problems. Scientific experts are paid and encouraged to provide answers. The public does not have much use for a scientist who says, 'Sorry, but we don’t know.' The public prefers to listen to scientists who give confident answers to questions and make confident predictions of what will happen as a result of human activities. So it happens that the experts who talk publicly about politically contentious questions tend to speak more clearly than they think. They make confident predictions about the future, and end up believing their own predictions. Their predictions become dogmas which they do not question. The public is led to believe that the fashionable scientific dogmas are true, and it may sometimes happen that they are wrong. That is why heretics who question the dogmas are needed.”
  • Source: Freeman Dyson, Frederick S. Pardee Distinguished Lecture (Oct 2005), Boston University. Collected in 'Heretical Thoughts About Science and Society', A Many-Colored Glass: Reflections on the Place of Life in the Universe (2007), 43-44.
Keywords: World_quotes Modern_quotes Science_quotes Society_quotes Interaction_quotes Perversity_quotes Technology_quotes Political_quotes Problem_quotes Politician_quotes People_quotes Answer_quotes Expert_quotes Knowledge_quotes Confidence_quotes Prediction_quotes Humanity_quotes Activity_quotes Talking_quotes Contention_quotes Thinking_quotes Future_quotes Belief_quotes Dogma_quotes Bias_quotes Heretical_quotes

Henry_Ford

Failure

“An absence of fear of the future and of veneration for the past. One who fears the future, who fears failure, limits his activities. Failure is only the opportunity more intelligently to begin again. There is no disgrace in honest failure; there is disgrace in fearing to fail. What is past is useful only as it suggests ways and means for progress.”
  • Source: Henry Ford. A book. Entitled My Life and Work. Written by Henry Ford in collaboration with Samuel Crowther. Published 1922, Garden City, NY: Doubleday. Introduction.
    • Also quoted in Samuel Crowther, "Henry Ford's Problem," The Magazine of Business, vol. 52 (1927), p. 182.
Keywords: Absence_quotes Fear_quotes Future_quotes Veneration_quotes Past_quotes Failure_quotes Limitation_quotes Activity_quotes Opportunity_quotes Intelligence_quotes Disgrace_quotes Shame_quotes Suggestion_quotes Progress_quotes

Gordon_Glegg

Realms of the Design Mind

“The mind of the designer has three realms of activity... the inventive, the artistic, and the logical or rational.”

  • Source: Glegg, G. L. (1969). The Design of Design. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 978-0-511-79996-9. Chapter 2, page 18.
Keywords: Mind_quotes Design_quotes Realm_quotes Activity_quotes Invention_quotes Art_quotes Logic_quotes Rational_quotes

Kenneth_W_Kolence

Software Not Physical

“We clearly do not now have an engineering capability comparable to those based on the physical sciences. Such a capability is what is implied by the term software engineering. But software is not a physical system, it is a description of what one describes how a given physical system (a computer of some sort) should act. Thus software is more akin to engineering drawings, either maintained on paper or within a computer. ... So probably it is incorrect to assume software engineering should be considered as a sibling in the family of the physical science based engineering disciplines.”
Keywords: Engineering_quotes Capability_quotes Compare_quotes Physical_quotes Science_quotes Software_Engineering_quotes Software_quotes System_quotes Computer_quotes Activity_quotes Drawing_quotes Paper_quotes Sibling_quotes Family_quotes Discipline_quotes Consider_quotes Maintain_quotes Incorrect_quotes

Software Engineering Body of Knowledge

‘While software engineering may be based on good principles of design activities, it is not a physical science based engineering body of knowledge. So we have to build an engineering capability based on some other body of knowledge.”
Keywords: Software_Engineering_quotes Principle_quotes Design_quotes Activity_quotes Physical_quotes Science_quotes Engineering_quotes Body_quotes Knowledge_quotes Capability_quotes Software_quotes

Michael_Sean_Mahoney

Undefined Software Engineering

“If one could not define 'software engineering' at the time, neither could one point to its practice. It was not coined to characterize an ongoing activity but rather to express a desire for one.”
  • Source: Michael S. Mahoney in a paper entitled The Roots of Software Engineering. Published 1990 in CWI Quarterly, volume 3, number 4.
Keywords: Definition_quotes Software_quotes Software_Engineering_quotes Engineering_quotes Time_quotes Practice_quotes Coin_quotes Activity_quotes Desire_quotes

Steven_Pinker

Mind and Soul

“The traditional explanation of intelligence is that human flesh is suffused with a non-material entity, the soul, usually envisioned as some kind of ghost or spirit. But the theory faces an insurmountable problem: How does the spook interact with solid matter? How does an ethereal nothing respond to flashes, pokes, and beeps and get arms and legs to move? Another problem is the overwhelming evidence that the mind is the activity of the brain.”
  • Source: Steven Pinker (1997). How the Mind Works. New York, NY: W. W. Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-06973-0; eISBN 978-0-393-06973-0. Chapter 2 The search for Intelligent Life in the Universe.
Keywords: Tradition_quotes Explanation_quotes Intelligence_quotes Human_quotes Flesh_quotes Suffuse_quotes Non-Material_quotes Material_quotes Entity_quotes Envision_quotes Kind_quotes Ghost_quotes Spirit_quotes Theory_quotes Insurmountable_quotes Problem_quotes Spook_quotes Interaction_quotes Solid_quotes Matter_quotes Ethereal_quotes Nothing_quotes Respond_quotes Flash_quotes Poke_quotes Beep_quotes Arm_quotes Leg_quotes Movement_quotes Overwhelm_quotes Evidence_quotes Mind_quotes Activity_quotes Brain_quotes Soul_quotes

Computational Mind Probabilistic

“The computational theory thus embraces an alternative kind of computer with many elements that are active to a degree corresponding to the probability that some statement is true or false, and in which the activity levels change smoothly to register new and roughly accurate probabilities. (As we shall see, that may be the way the brain works.) The key idea is that the answer to the question 'What makes a system smart?' is not the kind of stuff it is made of or the kind of energy flowing through it, but what the parts of the machine stand for and how the patterns of changes inside it are designed to mirror truth-preserving relationships (including probabilistic and fuzzy truths).”
  • Source: Steven Pinker (1997). How the Mind Works. New York, NY: W. W. Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-06973-0; eISBN 978-0-393-06973-0. Chapter 2 Section: The search for Intelligent Life in the Universe.
Keywords: Computation_quotes Theory_quotes Embrace_quotes Alternative_quotes Kind_quotes Computer_quotes Element_quotes Activity_quotes Degree_quotes Correspondence_quotes Probability_quotes Statement_quotes True_quotes False_quotes Level_quotes Change_quotes Smooth_quotes Register_quotes Rough_quotes Accuracy_quotes Sight_quotes Way_quotes Brain_quotes Work_quotes Key_quotes Idea_quotes Answer_quotes Question_quotes System_quotes Smart_quotes Stuff_quotes Energy_quotes Flow_quotes Part_quotes Machine_quotes Stand_quotes Pattern_quotes Inside_quotes Design_quotes Mirror_quotes Fuzzy_quotes Truth_quotes Preservation_quotes Mind_quotes

Karl_Popper

Irresponsible Dreams

“The history of science, like the history of all human ideas, is a history of irresponsible dreams, of obstinacy, and of error. But science is one of the very few human activities — perhaps the only one — in which errors are systematically criticized and fairly often, in time, corrected. This is why we can say that, in science, we often learn from our mistakes, and why we can speak clearly and sensibly about making progress there. In most other fields of human endeavour there is change, but rarely progress ... And in most fields we do not even know how to evaluate change.”
  • Source: Karl Raimund Popper, From Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge (1963), 216. Reproduced in Karl Popper, Truth, Rationality and the Growth of Scientific Knowledge (1979), 9.
Keywords: History_quotes Science_quotes Humanity_quotes Idea_quotes Irresponsible_quotes Dreaming_quotes Obstinate_quotes Error_quotes Activity_quotes System_quotes Criticism_quotes Often_quotes Time_quotes Correction_quotes Learning_quotes Mistake_quotes Speak_quotes Clear_quotes Sensibility_quotes Progress_quotes Field_quotes Endeavour_quotes Change_quotes Evaluation_quotes

George_Sarton

Scientific Progress

“No history of civilization can be tolerably complete which does not give considerable space to the explanation of scientific progress. If we had any doubts about this, it would suffice to ask ourselves what constitutes the essential difference between our and earlier civilizations. Throughout the course of history, in every period, and in almost every country, we find a small number of saints, of great artists, of men of science. The saints of today are not necessarily more saintly than those of a thousand years ago; our artists are not necessarily greater than those of early Greece; they are more likely to be inferior; and of course, our men of science are not necessarily more intelligent than those of old; yet one thing is certain, their knowledge is at once more extensive and more accurate. The acquisition and systematization of positive knowledge is the only human activity which is truly cumulative and progressive. Our civilization is essentially different from earlier ones, because our knowledge of the world and of ourselves is deeper, more precise, and more certain, because we have gradually learned to disentangle the forces of nature, and because we have contrived, by strict obedience to their laws, to capture them and to divert them to the gratification of our own needs.”
  • Source: George (Alfred Léon) Sarton, Introduction to the History of Science (1927), Vol. 1, 3-4.
Keywords: History_quotes Civilization_quotes Tolerance_quotes Completion_quotes Explanation_quotes Science_quotes Progress_quotes Doubt_quotes Sufficient_quotes Constitute_quotes Essential_quotes Differences_quotes Early_quotes Course_quotes Period_quotes Country_quotes Small_quotes Saint_quotes Great_quotes Art_quotes Intelligence_quotes Old_quotes Year_quotes Greece_quotes Inferior_quotes Knowledge_quotes Extension_quotes Accuracy_quotes Acquire_quotes System_quotes Positive_quotes Humanity_quotes Activity_quotes True_quotes Cumulative_quotes World_quotes Depth_quotes Precision_quotes Certainty_quotes Gradual_quotes Learning_quotes Disentangle_quotes Force_quotes Nature_quotes Contrive_quotes Strict_quotes Obedience_quotes Law_quotes Capture_quotes Divergence_quotes Gratify_quotes Need_quotes Progressive_quotes

Mark_Seemann

Pair Programming

“...not everyone likes pair programming. As a typical introvert, I personally find the activity exhausting. It also leaves little room for contemplation, and it requires synchronization of schedules... it’s hardly practical or desirable to do it all the time.”
  • Source: Mark Seemann, “Code That Fits in Your Head: Heuristics for Software Engineering”. Published in 2021 by Pearson Education, Kindle Edition, ISBN: 978-0-13-746440-1. Page 190.

Keywords: Everyone_quotes Like_quotes Pair_quotes Programming_quotes Typical_quotes Introvert_quotes Activity_quotes Exhaust_quotes Leave_quotes Little_quotes Room_quotes Contemplation_quotes Require_quotes Synchronization_quotes Schedule_quotes Practical_quotes Desirable_quotes All_quotes Time_quotes Do_quotes

Herbert_Simon

Design and Analysis

“In view of the key role of design in professional activity, it is ironic that in this century the natural sciences almost drove the sciences of the artificial from professional school curricula, a development that peaked about two or three decades after the Second World War. Engineering schools gradually became schools of physics and mathematics; medical schools became schools of biological science; business schools became schools of finite mathematics. The use of adjectives like 'applied' concealed, but did not change, the fact. It simply meant that in the professional schools those topics were selected from mathematics and the natural sciences for emphasis which were thought to be most nearly relevant to professional practice. It did not mean that design continued to be taught, as distinguished from analysis.”
Keywords: View_quotes Key_quotes Role_quotes Design_quotes Professional_quotes Activity_quotes Irony_quotes Century_quotes Natural_quotes Science_quotes Drive_quotes Artificial_quotes School_quotes Curriculum_quotes Development_quotes Peak_quotes Decade_quotes World_quotes War_quotes Engineering_quotes Gradual_quotes Physics_quotes Mathematics_quotes Medical_quotes Biology_quotes Business_quotes Finite_quotes Applied_quotes Conceal_quotes Change_quotes Fact_quotes Simplicity_quotes Meaning_quotes Topic_quotes Selection_quotes Emphasis_quotes Thinking_quotes Near_quotes Relevance_quotes Practice_quotes Continue_quotes Teaching_quotes Analysis_quotes

Design without Final Goals

“In the discussion of discovery processes. We saw there that search guided by only the most general heuristics of ‘interestingness’ or novelty is a fully realizable activity. This kind of search, which provides the mechanism for scientific discovery, may also provide the most suitable model of the social design process.”
Keywords: Discussion_quotes Discovery_quotes Process_quotes Search_quotes Guide_quotes Generality_quotes Heuristic_quotes Interest_quotes Novelty_quotes Full_quotes Realizable_quotes Activity_quotes Kind_quotes Provide_quotes Mechanism_quotes Science_quotes Suitability_quotes Model_quotes Social_quotes Design_quotes

Design Paradox

“A paradoxical, but perhaps realistic, view of design goals is that their function is to motivate activity which in turn will generate new goals.”
Keywords: Paradox_quotes Realism_quotes View_quotes Design_quotes Goal_quotes Function_quotes Motivation_quotes Activity_quotes Turn_quotes Generation_quotes

Baruch_Spinoza

Mind Pleasure

“When the mind regards itself and its own power of activity, it feels pleasure: and that pleasure is greater in proportion to the distinctness wherewith it conceives itself and its own power of activity.”
Keywords: Mind_quotes Pleasure_quotes Power_quotes Activity_quotes Regard_quotes Proportion_quotes Distinct_quotes Conceive_quotes

Alfred_Tarski

Search For Truth

“The search for truth is rightly considered the essence of scientific activities, it appears as an important problem to find at least partial criteria of truth and to develop procedures that may enable us to ascertain or negate the truth (or at least the likelihood of truth).”
  • Source: Alfred Tarski in his paper entitled ‘Truth and Proof’, published in Scientific America, 1969, volume 220 issue 6, pages 63-77. Online at https://www.jstor.org/stable/24926385.
Keywords: Search_quotes Truth_quotes Right_quotes Consider_quotes Essence_quotes Science_quotes Activity_quotes Appear_quotes Important_quotes Problem_quotes Find_quotes Least_quotes Partial_quotes Criteria_quotes Develop_quotes Procedure_quotes Enable_quotes Ascertain_quotes Negate_quotes Likelihood_quotes

Gerald_Weinberg

English and Cobol

“Writing in English and writing in Cobol are similar activities, but not because Cobol is 'like English.' The secret key to all good writing is re-writing. It's true in English and it's true in Cobol. It's even true in APL. Nobody but a genius is capable of writing perfect prose on the first draft.”
  • Source: Entitled: Understanding the Professional Programmer. Written by: Gerald M. Weinberg. Published: 1988. ISBN: 0932633099. Medium: Book.
Keywords: Writing_quotes English_quotes Cobol_quotes Activity_quotes Secret_quotes Revision_quotes APL_quotes Impossibility_quotes Genius_quotes Perfection_quotes Prose_quotes Draft_quotes First_Time_quotes Key_quotes True_quotes Capable_quotes

Shoshana_Zuboff

Information Produced

“Thus, information technology, even when it is applied to automatically reproduce a finite activity, is not mute. It not only imposes information (in the form of programmed instructions) but also produces information.”
  • Source: Zuboff, S. (1988). In The Age Of The Smart Machine: The Future Of Work And Power. New York, NY: Basic Books, p. 9. ISBN:0465032125.
Keywords: Information_quotes Automation_quotes Programming_quotes Conservation_quotes Technology_quotes Reproduce_quotes Finite_quotes Activity_quotes Mute_quotes Impose_quotes Instruction_quotes Produce_quotes

Informate

“The word that I have coined to describe this unique capacity is informate. Activities, events, and objects are translated into and made visible by information when a technology informates as well as automates.”
  • Source: Zuboff, S. (1988). In The Age Of The Smart Machine: The Future Of Work And Power. New York, NY: Basic Books, p. 10. ISBN:0465032125.
Keywords: Informate_quotes Information_quotes Automation_quotes Translation_quotes Transformation_quotes Word_quotes Coin_quotes Describe_quotes Unique_quotes Capacity_quotes Activity_quotes Event_quotes Object_quotes Visible_quotes Technology_quotes

Natural Attitude

“The most treacherous enemy of such research is what philosophers call ‘the natural attitude,’ our capacity to live daily life in a way that takes for granted the objects and activities that surround us. Even when we encounter new objects in our environment, our tendency is to experience them in terms of categories and qualities with which we are already familiar. The natural attitude allows us to assume and predict a great many things about each other's behavior without first establishing premises at the outset of every interaction. The natural attitude can also stand in the way of awareness, for ordinary experience has to be made extraordinary in order to become accessible to reflection. This occurs when we encounter a problem: when our actions do not yield the expected results, we are caught by surprise and so are motivated to reflect upon our initial assumptions. Awareness requires a rupture with the world we take for granted; then old categories of experience are called into question and revised.”
  • Source: Zuboff, S. (1988). In The Age Of The Smart Machine: The Future Of Work And Power. New York, NY: Basic Books, p. 13. ISBN:0465032125.
Keywords: Enemy_quotes Research_quotes Natural_quotes Attitude_quotes Capacity_quotes Object_quotes Activity_quotes Environment_quotes Experience_quotes Category_quotes Quality_quotes Familiarity_quotes Assumption_quotes Prediction_quotes Behavior_quotes Premise_quotes Interaction_quotes Problem_quotes Awareness_quotes Extraordinary_quotes Accessibility_quotes Reflection_quotes Thinking_quotes Expectation_quotes Result_quotes Surprise_quotes Motivation_quotes World_quotes Rupture_quotes Question_quotes Revision_quotes Treacherous_quotes Philosopher_quotes Call_quotes Live_quotes Daily_quotes Way_quotes Surround_quotes Outset_quotes Stand_quotes Ordinary_quotes Action_quotes Yield_quotes Initial_quotes

Frederick Taylor

“The man who emerged as the chief symbol of the rational approach to management was Frederick Taylor. Though much has been written on Taylor and the philosophy and methods of scientific management, it is worth highlighting a few central themes for three reasons. First, Taylorism explicitly treats the worker's body in its two dimensions -- as a source of effort and as a source of skill. Second, workers' responses to Taylorism reveal the ambivalence that this dual role of the body can create, as it did among the bleach plant operators or the nineteenth-century glassmakers. Third, the logic that motivated the early purveyors and adapters of scientific management has continued to dominate the course of automation in the twentieth-century workplace. As will be argued later, it is a logic that must undergo a fundamental reevaluation as information technology is widely adapted to productive activity.”
  • Source: Zuboff, S. (1988). In The Age Of The Smart Machine: The Future Of Work And Power. New York, NY: Basic Books, p. 41. ISBN:0465032125.
Keywords: Scientific_Management_quotes Effort_quotes Skill_quotes Ambivalence_quotes Automation_quotes Information_Technology_quotes Information_quotes Technology_quotes Workplace_quotes Taylor(topic)_quotes Man_quotes Emerge_quotes Chief_quotes Symbol_quotes Rational_quotes Approach_quotes Management_quotes Philosophy_quotes Method_quotes Central_quotes Theme_quotes Reason_quotes Treat_quotes Worker_quotes Body_quotes Dimension_quotes Source_quotes Response_quotes Reveal_quotes Dual_quotes Role_quotes Create_quotes Bleach_quotes Plant_quotes Operator_quotes Glassmaker_quotes Logic_quotes Motivation_quotes Purveyor_quotes Adapter_quotes Dominate_quotes Course_quotes Fundamental_quotes Reevaluation_quotes Productive_quotes Activity_quotes

Technology Management

“Even where control or deskilling has been the intent of managerial choices with respect to new information technology, managers themselves are also captive to a wide range of impulses and pressures. Only rarely is there a grand design concocted by an elite group ruthlessly grinding its way toward the fulfillment of some special and secret plan. Instead, there is a concentration of forces and consequences, which in turn develop their own momentum. Sometimes these lines of force run in predictably straight paths. At other times, they twist and spiral, turn corners, and flow to their opposite. Activities that seem to represent choices are often inert reproductions of accepted practice.”
  • Source: Zuboff, S. (1988). In The Age Of The Smart Machine: The Future Of Work And Power. New York, NY: Basic Books, p. 389. ISBN:0465032125.
Keywords: Control_quotes Deskilling_quotes Skill_quotes Management_quotes Choice_quotes Information_quotes Technology_quotes Impulse_quotes Pressure_quotes Design_quotes Elite_quotes Ruthlessness_quotes Secret_quotes Plan_quotes Concentration_quotes Force_quotes Consequence_quotes Momentum_quotes Prediction_quotes Activity_quotes Reproduction_quotes Practice_quotes Inert_quotes Intent_quotes Concoct_quotes Group_quotes Grind_quotes Special_quotes Straight_quotes Path_quotes Twist_quotes Spiral_quotes Corner_quotes Turn_quotes Flow_quotes Opposite_quotes Represent_quotes Accept_quotes

Learning Environment

“The demands of a learning environment can reduce the psychological distance between the self and the organization because active engagement in the social processes associated with interpretation requires more extensive participation of the human personality. In a traditional approach to work organization, employees could be treated as objectively measurable bodies, and in return, they could give of their labor without giving of their selves. The human being as wage earner and the human being as subjective actor could remain separate.”
  • Source: Zuboff, S. (1988). In The Age Of The Smart Machine: The Future Of Work And Power. New York, NY: Basic Books, p. 401. ISBN:0465032125.
Keywords: Demand_quotes Learning_quotes Environment_quotes Psychology_quotes Self_quotes Organization_quotes Activity_quotes Engagement_quotes Society_quotes Process_quotes Interpretation_quotes Requirements_quotes Participation_quotes Humanity_quotes Personality_quotes Tradition_quotes Work_quotes Employee_quotes Treatment_quotes Object_quotes Measurement_quotes Labor_quotes Body_quotes Compensation_quotes Wage_quotes Subject_quotes Actor_quotes Separation_quotes Reduce_quotes Distance_quotes Associate_quotes Approach_quotes

Fundamental Scientific Management Reevaluation

“The logic that motivated the early purveyors and adapters of scientific management has continued to dominate the course of automation... It is a logic that must undergo a fundamental reevaluation as information technology is widely adapted to productive activity.”
  • Source: Zuboff, S. (1988). In The Age Of The Smart Machine: The Future Of Work And Power. New York, NY: Basic Books, p. 42. ISBN:0465032125.
Keywords: Logic_quotes Motivation_quotes Adapter_quotes Scientific_Management_quotes Domination_quotes Automation_quotes Fundamental_quotes Evaluation_quotes Information_Technology_quotes Adaptation_quotes Productivity_quotes Activity_quotes Early_quotes Purveyor_quotes Science_quotes Management_quotes Undergo_quotes Reevaluation_quotes Information_quotes Technology_quotes
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