Group quotes
From Motley Bytes Wiki
Contents
F_Terry_Baker
Program Ownership
“A program or program system is a group product and should be produced in a way which allows and encourages maximum knowledge of it by each person involved. Furthermore, the management responsible for its development should be able to determine its status directly and not depend on the programmer's description of his progress on an 'invisible product'.”
- Source: Baker, F. T. (1975). Software Management Through Improved Programming Technology. ACM ’75: Proceedings of the 1975 Annual Conference, 286–287. https://doi.org/10.1145/800181.810346
- Keywords: Programming_quotes Library_quotes Source_Code_quotes Management_quotes Software_Management_quotes Program_quotes System_quotes Group_quotes Product_quotes Produce_quotes Allow_quotes Encourage_quotes Maximum_quotes Knowledge_quotes Person_quotes Involve_quotes Responsible_quotes Development_quotes Ability_quotes Determine_quotes Status_quotes Direct_quotes Depend_quotes Description_quotes Progress_quotes Invisible_quotes
David_Bohm
Theory Purpose
“we must avoid postulating a new element for each new phenomenon. But an equally serious mistake is to admit into the theory only those elements which can now be observed. For the purpose of a theory is not only to correlate the results of observations that we already know how to make, but also to suggest the need for new kinds of observations and to predict their results. In fact, the better a theory is able to suggest the need for new kinds of observations and to predict their results correctly, the more confidence we have that this theory is likely to be good representation of the actual properties of matter and not simply an empirical system especially chosen in such a way as to correlate a group of already known facts.”
- Source: David Bohm in the paper “A Suggested Interpretation of the Quantum Theory in Terms of ‘Hidden’ Variables. II”. Published January 1952 in Physical Review volume 35 issue 2.
- Keywords: Avoid_quotes Postulate_quotes Element_quotes New_quotes Phenomenon_quotes Mistake_quotes Admit_quotes Theory_quotes Observation_quotes Purpose_quotes Correlation_quotes Result_quotes Already_quotes Make_quotes Suggest_quotes Need_quotes Kind_quotes Prediction_quotes Better_quotes Correct_quotes Confidence_quotes Good_quotes Represent_quotes Actual_quotes Property_quotes Matter_quotes Empirical_quotes System_quotes Choose_quotes Way_quotes Group_quotes Known_quotes Fact_quotes
Dietrich_Bonhoeffer
Stupidity Social
“We discover this to our surprise in particular situations. The impression one gains is not so much that stupidity is a congenital defect but that, under certain circumstances, people are made stupid or that they allow this to happen to them. We note further that people who have isolated themselves from others or who live in solitude manifest this defect less frequently than individuals or groups of people inclined or condemned to sociability. And so it would seem that stupidity is perhaps less a psychological than a sociological problem.”
- Source: From the paper “An Account at the Turn of the Year 1942-1943” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, contained within the book “Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Volume 8: Letters and Papers from Prison” edited by John W. Gruchy, et al. Published in 2009 by Fortress Press.
- Keywords: Stupid_quotes Discover_quotes Surprise_quotes Particular_quotes Situation_quotes Impression_quotes Gain_quotes Congenital_quotes Defect_quotes Certain_quotes Circumstance_quotes People_quotes Made_quotes Allow_quotes Happen_quotes Isolate_quotes Other_quotes Live_quotes Solitude_quotes Manifest_quotes Less_quotes Frequent_quotes Individual_quotes Group_quotes Incline_quotes Condemn_quotes Social_quotes Seem_quotes Psychology_quotes Sociology_quotes Problem_quotes
Peter_Drucker
Knowledge Workers
“The newly emerging dominant group is 'knowledge workers.' The very term was unknown forty years ago. (I coined it in a 1959 book, Landmarks of Tomorrow.) By the end of this century knowledge workers will make up a third or more of the work force in the United States-- as large a proportion as manufacturing workers ever made up, except in wartime. The majority of them will be paid at least as well as, or better than, manufacturing workers ever were. And the new jobs offer much greater opportunities.”
- Source: Peter Drucker, “The Age of Social Transformation”, The Atlantic Monthly; Nov. 1994; Vol. 274, No. 5. p. 53-80.
- Keywords: Emergence_quotes Domination_quotes Group_quotes Knowledge_quotes Worker_quotes Term_quotes Unknown_quotes Year_quotes Coin_quotes Book_quotes Tomorrow_quotes End_quotes Century_quotes Work_quotes Force_quotes United_States_quotes Large_quotes Proportion_quotes Manufacture_quotes Wartime_quotes Majority_quotes Pay_quotes Better_quotes Job_quotes Great_quotes Opportunity_quotes
Samuel_C_Florman
Social Responsibility
“For if ever there was a group dedicated to — obsessed with — morality, conscience, and social responsibility, it has been the engineering profession. Practically every description of the practice of engineering has stressed the concept of service to humanity.”
- Source: From the book “The Existential Pleasures of Engineering” by {Samuel C. Florman}. Second edition published in 1994 by {St. Martin's Press}, New York, NY. First edition published in 1976. Kindle edition published in 2023. E-book ISBN 978-1466842366. Chapter 3, page 19.
Character
“To the everlasting credit of man, he recognized early the imperfection of his character, and set about finding ways of coping with it so as to enable himself to live harmoniously in large groups.”
- Source: From the book “The Existential Pleasures of Engineering” by {Samuel C. Florman}. Second edition published in 1994 by {St. Martin's Press}, New York, NY. First edition published in 1976. Kindle edition published in 2023. E-book ISBN 978-1466842366. Chapter 6, page 84.
Grace_Hopper
Never Take First No
“Never, never, never take the first no. There are a certain number of people in business, industry, and government who always say no the first time you suggest something new, because they're lazy. And if they say yes, they're going to have to do something about it. But there's another group, they are even more dangerous in a way, who always say no the first time you say something new or different because they want to see if you believe in it enough to come back and ask again. So never take the first no. Always go back and ask again. As a matter of fact, I take about four no's and then I figure out how to get around the guy, but that technique comes with age. I ran into one of these guys... I noticed he always said no to things the first time. So the next time I went in to suggest something I said ‘let's pretend this is the second time I'm presenting this’. I said, ‘you always say no the first time’. And he looked at me with the funniest expression. I had him over the barrel from then on because I'd just go and say, ‘this is the fourth time I'm requesting this, let's just say yes now’. So never, never, never take the first no on a new concept. It's terribly important that we listen to our youngsters.”
- Source: Grace Hopper in a lecture delivered 1982-08-19 at the NSA (National Security Agency). Video available at YouTube as “NSA Releases Internal 1982 Lecture by Computing Pioneer Rear Admiral Grace Hopper”, channel The Black Vault Originals, online at <https://youtu.be/_bP14OzIJWI?si=wcUTl04b4p4scY6k>, posted 2024-08, retrieved 2024-08. Quote in video at 26:28.
- Keywords: Never_quotes First_quotes Yes_quotes No_quotes Certain_quotes People_quotes Business_quotes Industry_quotes Government_quotes Always_quotes Say_quotes Time_quotes Suggest_quotes New_quotes Lazy_quotes Do_quotes Another_quotes Group_quotes Dangerous_quotes Different_quotes See_quotes Believe_quotes Enough_quotes Come_quotes Back_quotes Ask_quotes Figure_quotes Around_quotes Guy_quotes Technique_quotes Age_quotes Pretend_quotes Second_quotes Present_quotes Look_quotes Funny_quotes Expression_quotes Over_quotes Barrel_quotes Fourth_quotes Request_quotes Now_quotes Concept_quotes Terrible_quotes Important_quotes Listen_quotes Youngster_quotes
Steve_Jobs
Show_Them
“We have a lot of customers, and we have a lot of research into our installed base. We also watch industry trends pretty carefully. But in the end, for something this complicated, it's really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them. That's why a lot of people at Apple get paid a lot of money, because they're supposed to be on top of these things.”
- Source: Steve Jobs as quoted in an interview entitled “Steve Jobs: There's Sanity Returning” published in BusinessWeek, 1998-05-25. Interviewed by Ira Sager, Peter Burrows, and Andy Reinhardt. Online at https://web.archive.org/web/19991110003323/http://www.businessweek.com/1998/21/b3579165.htm retrieved 2024-05-28.
- See Also:
David_E_Nye
Programmers Perfectionists
“A single error in a program thousands of lines long prevented it from running correctly, and computer programmers became known as a fanatically exact group of perfectionists, working in an arcane specialty. Sociologists studying the ‘man-machine' interface found that a programmer's personality often changed after prolonged exposure to the computer, becoming severely logical and machine-like.”
- Source: A book. Written by David E. Nye. Entitled 'Narratives and Spaces'. Published in 1997 by Univerity of Exeter Press, Exeter, UK. Hardback ISBN 0-85989-555-6. Paperback ISBN 0-85989-556-4. Chapter 10, page 164.
- Keywords: Single_quotes Error_quotes Program_quotes Thousand_quotes Line_quotes Long_quotes Prevent_quotes Run_quotes Correct_quotes Computer_quotes Programmer_quotes Fanatic_quotes Exact_quotes Group_quotes Perfectionist_quotes Work_quotes Arcane_quotes Specialty_quotes Sociologist_quotes Study_quotes Man_quotes Machine_quotes Interface_quotes Find_quotes Personality_quotes Change_quotes Prolong_quotes Exposure_quotes Severe_quotes Logical_quotes Software_quotes Engineering_quotes Software_Engineering_quotes
Todd_Rose
Comparing Averages
“Averages have their place. If you’re comparing two different groups of people... as opposed to comparing two individuals from each of those groups — then the average can be useful.”
- Source: From the book “The End of Average: How We Succeed in a World That Values Sameness”, written by Todd Rose, published 2016 by HarperCollins, Kindle Edition, page 11. ISBN: 978-0062358387 (e-book).
Alfred_Russel_Wallace
Truth Proof
“There is no more convincing proof of the truth of a comprehensive theory than its power of absorbing and finding a place for new facts, and its capability of interpreting phenomena which had been previously looked upon as unaccountable anomalies. It is thus that the law of universal gravitation and the undulatory theory of light have become established and universally accepted by men of science. Fact after fact has been brought forward as being apparently inconsistent with them, and one after another these very facts have been shown to be the consequences of the laws they were at first supposed to disprove. A false theory will never stand this test. Advancing knowledge brings to light whole groups of facts which it cannot deal with, and its advocates steadily decrease in numbers, notwithstanding the ability and scientific skill with which it may have been supported.”
- Source: Alfred Russel Wallace, From a review of four books on the subject 'Mimicry, and Other Protective Resemblances Among Animals', in The Westminster Review (Jul 1867), 88, 1. Wallace is identified as the author within the article as reprinted in William Beebe, The Book of Naturalists: An Anthology of the Best Natural History (1988), 108.
- Keywords: Convince_quotes Proof_quotes Truth_quotes Comprehension_quotes Theory_quotes Power_quotes Absorb_quotes Find_quotes Place_quotes Fact_quotes Capability_quotes Interpretation_quotes Phenomena_quotes Unaccount_quotes Anomalies_quotes Law_quotes Universal_quotes Gravity_quotes Undulate_quotes Light_quotes Establish_quotes Acceptance_quotes Man_quotes Science_quotes Inconsistent_quotes Consequence_quotes Disproof_quotes False_quotes Stand_quotes Testing_quotes Advance_quotes Knowledge_quotes Group_quotes Deal_quotes Advocate_quotes Decrease_quotes Number_quotes Ability_quotes Skill_quotes Support_quotes Apparent_quotes Suppose_quotes
Gerald_Weinberg
Programming Not Individual
“But there is much evidence, as we shall see presently, to argue that the proper study of programming is done at the level of the programming social unit. Not that the individual level is unimportant, but we might start by asking why, if the average programmer spends two-thirds of his time working with other people rather than working alone (yes, it's true!), that 99 percent of the studies have been on individual programmers.”
- Source: Chapter 3. Weinberg, G. M. (2011). The Psychology of Computer Programming (Silver anniversary edition) | 1971. Weinberg & Weinberg.
- Keywords: Evidence_quotes Programming_quotes Society_quotes Group_quotes Team_quotes Organization_quotes Level_quotes Individual_quotes Importance_quotes Programmer_quotes Time_quotes Productivity_quotes Research_quotes Study_quotes Social_quotes Unimportant_quotes Why_quotes Average_quotes People_quotes Coordination_quotes Cooperation_quotes
Programming Not an Individual Task
“The ideas expressed in the preceding paragraph (of programmer individuality) are possibly the most formidable barrier to improved programming that we shall encounter. First of all, if this is indeed the image generally held of the programming profession, then people will be attracted to, or repelled from, entering the profession according to their preference for working alone or working with others.”
- Source: Chapter 4. Weinberg, G. M. (2011). The Psychology of Computer Programming (Silver anniversary edition) | 1971. Weinberg & Weinberg.
- Keywords: Programming_quotes Individual_quotes Barrier_quotes Professional_quotes People_quotes Preference_quotes Alone_quotes Group_quotes Team_quotes Work_quotes Attract_quotes Repel_quotes Idea_quotes Express_quotes Preceding_quotes Paragraph_quotes Possibly_quotes Formidable_quotes Improve_quotes Encounter_quotes Image_quotes Generally_quotes Held_quotes Cooperation_quotes
Vending Machines
“When the vending machines had been in the common room, a large crowd always hovered around them — but not particularly for fol-de-rol, as the manager had so quickly assumed... Informal mechanisms always exist and it is dangerous to change things without understanding them.”
- Source: Chapter 4. Weinberg, G. M. (2011). The Psychology of Computer Programming (Silver anniversary edition) | 1971. Weinberg & Weinberg.
Egoless Programming and John von Neumann
“Programming groups who have conquered the ego problem do exist and have existed from the earliest days of computing. John von Neumann himself was perhaps the first programmer to recognize his inadequacies with respect to examination of his own work. Those who knew him have said that he was constantly asserting what a lousy programmer he was, and that he incessantly pushed his programs on other people to read for errors and clumsiness. Yet the common image today of von Neumann is of the unparalleled computing genius — flawless in his every action. And indeed, there can be no doubt of von Neumann's genius. His very ability to realize his human limitations put him head and shoulders above the average programmer today. Average people can be trained to accept their humanity — their inability to function like a machine — and to value it and work with others so as to keep it under the kind of control needed if programming is to be successful.”
- Source: Chapter 4. Weinberg, G. M. (2011). The Psychology of Computer Programming (Silver anniversary edition) | 1971. Weinberg & Weinberg.
- See Also:
- Keywords: Egoless_quotes Programming_quotes Group_quotes Conquer_quotes Ego_quotes Computing_quotes Neumann_quotes Programmer_quotes Recognition_quotes Inadequacy_quotes Examination_quotes Peer_Review_quotes Error_quotes Clumsy_quotes Genius_quotes Flawless_quotes Action_quotes Doubt_quotes Ability_quotes Human_Limitations_quotes Training_quotes Humanity_quotes Functional_quotes Machine_quotes Control_quotes Success_quotes Problem_quotes Exist_quotes Earliest_quotes Respect_quotes Work_quotes Constant_quotes Assert_quotes Lousy_quotes Incessant_quotes Push_quotes People_quotes Read_quotes Image_quotes Unparallel_quotes Realize_quotes Human_quotes Limitation_quotes Head_quotes Shoulder_quotes Above_quotes Average_quotes Inability_quotes Value_quotes
True Consensus on Group Goals
“To achieve true consensus on group goals, there is no better method than having the group set the goals itself... To be sure, not every programming team can be permitted to set whatever goals it happens to fancy at any moment. A team is usually constituted to accomplish some task which has probably been set down before the team was even assembled. But programming tasks are not usually specified too precisely until much later than team formation, so that unless the upper management is very overbearing, much meaningful and interesting goal setting can be done by the team members in concert. The greatest danger is the manager who has come up through the programming ranks and wants to define every bit and byte before the team even sees the problem. Nothing is more sure to dampen the team enthusiasm and make them feel that they are 'mere coders... Of course, it is best if each team can have a single clearly defined goal, but the world is seldom so simple... When a team is not fully apprised of the emphasis to be placed on each factor, the members of that team may very well be working at cross purposes.”
- Source: Chapter 5. Weinberg, G. M. (2011). The Psychology of Computer Programming (Silver anniversary edition) | 1971. Weinberg & Weinberg.
- Keywords: True_quotes Achievement_quotes Consensus_quotes Group_quotes Goal_quotes Methodology_quotes Empowerment_quotes Programming_quotes Team_quotes Assignment_quotes Task_quotes Precision_quotes Later_quotes Before_quotes Management_quotes Overbearing_quotes Meaning_quotes Cooperation_quotes Danger_quotes Rank_quotes PreSpecification_quotes Requirements_quotes Problem_quotes Enthusiasm_quotes Coder_quotes Mere_Coders_quotes Clarity_quotes Singleness_quotes World_quotes Simplicity_quotes Complexity_quotes Emphasis_quotes Factor_quotes Work_quotes Cross_Purpose_quotes Assemble_quotes Interesting_quotes Concert_quotes Define_quotes Dampen_quotes Feel_quotes Member_quotes Cross_quotes Purpose_quotes
Edward_Yourdon
Recruiting Audition
“Let me add one new strategy to your recruiting and interviewing approach...: The ‘audition’ process... ask a candidate to programmer or analyst to give a 30 to 60 minute presentation on some technical subject to the group that would normally interview him [or her].”
- Source: Edward Yourdon in the book “Decline and Fall of the American Programmer”. Published in 1992 by Prentice Hall. ISBN: 0-13-203670-3. Chapter 3, section 3.6, page 55.
Shoshana_Zuboff
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