Motivation quotes

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Alistair_Cockburn

Formal Development

"In the formal development of communications software, in 1987, I was given the motivation, 'The problem with software development is that there is too much ambiguity in the problem statement and in the design description. Things will go better if we get people to work with mathematical formalisms.” After some work in this area, I discovered:
Problem 1. The people on the projects were not interested in learning our system.
Problem 2. They were successfully able to ignore us, and were still delivering software, anyway.
I shifted out of formal development, hearing my formal development colleagues saying, 'The problem lies in the training. Things will go better if we start training students in the necessary mathematics earlier, i.e., secondary school.' Based on what I have learned about people, I expect this will be a frustrated desire. It is not that I doubt certain advantages of formal development, but I do doubt our ability to coax 10**6 people to master it. The question should become, 'Under what circumstances, and with what assignment, should a formal specialist be called in?'"

Source: Cockburn, A. A. R. (1999). Characterizing people as non-linear 1st order components in software development. HaT Technical Report 1999.03, Humans and Technology, Inc.. Retrieved 2019-06-29 from https://ameyakarve.wordpress.com/2012/07/22/characterizing-people-as-non-linear-1st-order-components-in-software-development-cockburn-us/.

Keywords: Formality_quotes Methodology_quotes Software_quotes Development_quotes Ambiguity_quotes Design_quotes Specification_quotes Requirements_quotes Training_quotes Education_quotes Specialization_quotes Communication_quotes Motivation_quotes Problem_quotes Statement_quotes Description_quotes People_quotes Work_quotes Mathematics_quotes Learning_quotes Success_quotes Ignore_quotes Deliver_quotes Colleague_quotes Student_quotes School_quotes Frustration_quotes Desire_quotes Advantage_quotes Circumstance_quotes Assignment_quotes Master_quotes

DeMarco and Lister

Project Politics

"The cause of failure most frequently cited by our survey participants was 'politics.' But now observe that people tend to use this word rather sloppily. Included under 'politics' are such unrelated or loosely related things as communication problems, staffing problems, disenchantment with the boss or with the client, lack of motivation, and high turnover. People often use the word politics to describe any aspect of the work that is people-related, but the English language provides a much more precise term for these effects: They constitute the project’s sociology. The truly political problems are a tiny and pathological subset."
  • 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: 1 (Somewhere Today, a Project Is Failing).
Keywords: Failure_quotes Survey_quotes Political_quotes Observation_quotes People_quotes Sloppy_quotes Imprecise_quotes Communication_quotes Staffing_quotes Human_Resources_quotes Management_quotes Boss_quotes Disenchantment_quotes Client_quotes Motivation_quotes Turnover_quotes Sociology_quotes Project_quotes Pathological_quotes Resource_quotes Cause_quotes Frequent_quotes Participant_quotes Aspect_quotes Work_quotes Language_quotes Precise_quotes Term_quotes Effect_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

Peter_Drucker

What a Manager Does

“A manager sets objectives - A manager organizes - A manager motivates and communicates - A manager, by establishing yardsticks, measures - A manager develops people.”
  • Source: Peter Drucker, “The Practice of Management” New York,: Harper, 1st ed. 1954 ; Routledge, 2012, p. 344.
Keywords: Do_quotes Manager_quotes Set_quotes Organization_quotes Motivation_quotes Communication_quotes Establish_quotes Yardstick_quotes Measurement_quotes Development_quotes People_quotes

Albert_Einstein

Art Science Life

“I believe with Schopenhauer that one of the strongest motives that lead men to art and science is escape from everyday life with its painful crudity and hopeless dreariness, from the fetters of one’s own ever shifting desires. A finely tempered nature longs to escape from personal life into the world of objective perception and thought; this desire may be compared with the townsman’s irresistible longing to escape from his noisy, cramped surroundings into the silence of high mountains, where the eye ranges freely through the still, pure air and fondly traces out the restful contours apparently built for eternity.”
  • Source: Words spoken by Albert Einstein in an address to The Physical Society in Berlin in 1918 to honor Max Planck’s 60th birthday, Transcribed into the book 'Essays in Science' in the chapter 'Principles of Research' written by Albert Einstein and translated to english by Alan Harris. Published in 1934 by The Philosophical Library, New York, NY.
Keywords: Art_quotes Science_quotes Motivation_quotes Life_quotes Pain_quotes Hopeless_quotes Desire_quotes Objectivity_quotes Perception_quotes Thinking_quotes Escape_quotes Schopenhauer(topic)_quotes Strong_quotes Men_quotes Crudity_quotes Dreariness_quotes Fetter_quotes Temper_quotes Nature_quotes Personal_quotes World_quotes Townsman_quotes Irresistible_quotes Noise_quotes Cramped_quotes Surround_quotes Silence_quotes High_quotes Mountain_quotes Eye_quotes Free_quotes Still_quotes Pure_quotes Air_quotes Fond_quotes Trace_quotes Restful_quotes Contour_quotes Build_quotes Eternity_quotes

Henry_Ford

Charity

“Why should there by any necessity for almsgiving in a civilized community? It is not the charitable mind to which I object. Heaven forbid that we should ever grow cold toward a fellow creature in need. Human sympathy is too fine for the cool, calculating attitude to take its place. One can name very few great advances that did not have human sympathy behind them. It is in order to help people that every notable service is undertaken. The trouble is that we have been using this great, fine motive force for ends too small. If human sympathy prompts us to feed the hungry, why should it not give the larger desire – to make hunger in our midst impossible? If we have sympathy enough for people to help them out of their troubles, surely we ought to have sympathy enough to keep them out.”
  • 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. Chapter XV.
Keywords: Alms_quotes Charity_quotes Civilization_quotes Community_quotes Society_quotes Poverty_quotes Empathy_quotes Need_quotes Sympathy_quotes Calculation_quotes Progress_quotes Help_quotes Service_quotes Action_quotes Trouble_quotes Motivation_quotes Force_quotes Small_quotes Large_quotes Hunger_quotes Desire_quotes Impossibility_quotes Prevent_quotes Mind_quotes Heaven_quotes Forbid_quotes Grow_quotes Cold_quotes Creature_quotes Human_quotes Cool_quotes Attitude_quotes Advance_quotes People_quotes Notable_quotes Undertake_quotes Feed_quotes

David_Kipping

Simulation Depth Limit

“Given... the ensemble of all [simulated] realities that will ever exist, one might wonder how deep the rabbit hole goes... There should exist some limit to how deep the generations can indeed go... This is motivated by the fact the base civilization is truly responsible for simulating all of the daughters beneath it, and it presumably has some finite computational limit at its disposal.”
  • Source: David Kipping from the paper “A Bayesian Approach to the Simulation Argument”, published 2020 in the journal ‘Universe’, volume 6, issue 8. DOI:10.3390/universe6080109. Online at https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1997/6/8/109 (2025).
Keywords: Simulation_quotes Reality_quotes Ensemble_quotes Exist_quotes Wonder_quotes Deep_quotes Rabbit_quotes Hole_quotes Limit_quotes Generation_quotes Motivation_quotes Fact_quotes Base_quotes Civilization_quotes True_quotes Responsible_quotes All_quotes Daughter_quotes Beneath_quotes Presume_quotes Finite_quotes Computation_quotes Disposal_quotes

Daniel_H_Pink

Motivation 1.0

“In our very early days — I mean very early days, say, fifty thousand years ago — the underlying assumption about human behavior was simple and true. We were trying to survive. From roaming the Savannah to gather food to scrambling for the bushes when a saber-toothed tiger approached, that drive guided most of our behavior. Call this early operating system Motivation 1.0.”
  • Source: Daniel H. Pink (2009). Drive. New York, NY: Riverhead Books. ISBN 9781101524381. Chapter 1.
Keywords: Motivation_quotes Early_quotes Day_quotes Year_quotes Underlie_quotes Assumption_quotes Human_quotes Behavior_quotes Simplicity_quotes True_quotes Try_quotes Survival_quotes Roam_quotes Savannah_quotes Gather_quotes Food_quotes Scramble_quotes Bush_quotes Saber-Tooth_quotes Tiger_quotes Approach_quotes Drive_quotes Guide_quotes Operating_System_quotes Prehistoric_quotes

Motivation 2.0

“We also had a second drive — to seek reward and avoid punishment more broadly. And it was from this insight that a new operating system — call it Motivation 2.0 — arose.”

  • Source: Daniel H. Pink (2009). Drive. New York, NY: Riverhead Books. ISBN 9781101524381. Chapter 1.
Keywords: Motivation_quotes Second_quotes Drive_quotes Seek_quotes Reward_quotes Avoidance_quotes Punish_quotes Broad_quotes Insight_quotes New_quotes Operating_System_quotes Arise_quotes

Herbert_Simon

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

Gratitude

“He who has conferred a benefit on anyone from motives of love or honour will feel pain, if he sees that the benefit is received without gratitude.”
Keywords: Love_quotes Pain_quotes Gratitude_quotes Benefit_quotes Motivation_quotes Honor_quotes Confer_quotes Feel_quotes See_quotes Receive_quotes

Edward_Yourdon

What to Do

“Solution: What to Do:
→ Hire the best people you can.
→ Pay special attention to proper training of your people.
→ Provide an exemplary environment in which your people can feel motivated and have fun and do good work.
→ Pay attention to effective project teams.”
  • 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 3.5, page 54.
Keywords: Do_quotes Hire_quotes Best_quotes People_quotes Provide_quotes Exemplary_quotes Environment_quotes Feel_quotes Motivation_quotes Fun_quotes Good_quotes Work_quotes Effective_quotes Project_quotes Team_quotes Solution_quotes

Shoshana_Zuboff

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

Abstract Work

“As the work that people do becomes more abstract, the need for positive motivation and internal commitment becomes all the more crucial.”
  • Source: Zuboff, S. (1988). In The Age Of The Smart Machine: The Future Of Work And Power. New York, NY: Basic Books, p. 291. ISBN:0465032125.
Keywords: Work_quotes Abstraction_quotes People_quotes Motivation_quotes Commitment_quotes Do_quotes Need_quotes Positive_quotes Internal_quotes Crucial_quotes

Panopticon Recording

“Information systems that translate, record, and display human behavior can provide the computer age version of universal transparency with a degree of illumination that would have exceeded even Bentham's most outlandish fantasies. Such systems can become information panopticons that, freed from the constraints of space and time, do not depend upon the physical arrangement of buildings or the laborious record keeping of industrial administration. They do not require the mutual presence of objects of observation. They do not even require the presence of an observer. Information systems can automatically and continuously record almost anything their designers want to capture, regardless of the specific intentions brought to the design process or the motives that guide data interpretation and utilization.”
  • Source: Zuboff, S. (1988). In The Age Of The Smart Machine: The Future Of Work And Power. New York, NY: Basic Books, p. 322. ISBN:0465032125.
Keywords: Panopticon_quotes Information_quotes System_quotes Translation_quotes Display_quotes Computer_quotes Surveillance_quotes Universal_quotes Transparency_quotes Illumination_quotes Fantasy_quotes Constraint_quotes Time_quotes Space_quotes Dependency_quotes Physical_quotes Arrangement_quotes Administration_quotes Building_quotes Industrial_quotes Object_quotes Observation_quotes Automation_quotes Record_quotes Design_quotes Capture_quotes Intentional_quotes Process_quotes Motivation_quotes Guidance_quotes Interpretation_quotes Utilization_quotes Human_quotes Behavior_quotes Provide_quotes Age_quotes Version_quotes Free_quotes Laborious_quotes Keep_quotes Require_quotes Presense_quotes Observer_quotes Continuous_quotes Designer_quotes Regardless_quotes Specific_quotes Data_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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