Donald Rumsfeld Quotes
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Remember where you came from.
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Plan backwards as well as forward. Set objectives and trace back to see how to achieve them. You may find that no path can get you there. Plan forward to see where your steps will take you, which may not be clear or intuitive.
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Prune - prune businesses, products, activities, people. Do it annually.
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Don't be a bottleneck. If a matter is not a decision for the President or you, delegate it. Force responsibility down and out. Find problem areas, add structure and delegate. The pressure is to do the reverse. Resist it.
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I'm not into this detail stuff. I'm more concepty.
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Don't do or say things you would not like to see on the front page of The Washington Post.
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I stand for 8-10 hours a day. Why is standing limited to four hours?
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Don't automatically obey Presidential directives if you disagree or if you suspect he hasn't considered key aspects of the issue.
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Be able to resign. It will improve your value to the President and do wonders for your performance.
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Leave the President's family business to him. You will have plenty to do without trying to manage the First Family. They are likely to do fine without your help.
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It is easier to get into something than to get out of it.
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And it is not knowable if force will be used, but if it is to be used, it is not knowable how long that conflict would last. It could last, you know, six days, six weeks. I doubt six months.
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Know that the amount of criticism you receive may correlate somewhat to the amount of publicity you receive.
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We're so conditioned as a people to think that a military campaign has to be cruise missiles and television images of airplanes dropping bombs, and that's just false. This is a totally different war. We need a new vocabulary. We need to get rid of old think and start thinking about this thing the way it really is.
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I didn't advocate invasion…I wasn't asked.
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Don't divide the world into 'them' and 'us.' Avoid infatuation with or resentment of the press, the Congress, rivals, or opponents. Accept them as facts. They have their jobs and you have yours.
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If you foul up, tell the President and correct it fast. Delay only compounds mistakes.
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Don't say 'the White House wants.' Buildings can't want.
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It is pretty clear that the coalition can win in Afghanistan and Iraq in one way or another, but it will be a long, hard slog. 16
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It isn't making mistakes that's critical; it's correcting them and getting on with the principal task.
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Oh my goodness gracious, what you can buy off the Internet in terms of overhead photography. A trained ape can know an awful lot of what is going on in this world, just by punching on his mouse, for a relatively modest cost.
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If in doubt, move decisions up to the President.
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If in doubt, don't. If still in doubt, do what's right.
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If you try to please everybody, somebody's not going to like it.