Chester Barnard

"Planning is one of the many catchwords whose present popularity is roughly proportionate to the obscurity of its definition."

"It is what we think we know that keeps us from learning."

"The inculcation of belief in the real existence of a common purpose is an essential executive function."

"The fine art of executive decision consists in not deciding questions that are not now pertinent, in not deciding prematurely, in not making decision that cannot be made effective, and in not making d…"

"An organization is a subordinate system of a specific larger system, the cooperative system, whose components are physical, biological, and personal systems. The relations with other organizations... …"

"It is in the nature of a leader’s work that he should be a realist and should recognize the need for action, even when the outcome cannot be foreseen, but also that he should be idealist and in the br…"

"The individual is a single, unique, independent, isolated, whole thing, embodying innumerable forces and materials past and present which are physical, biological, and social factors."

"Although the physical factors are distinguished from the biological they are not separable in specific organisms... Human organisms do not function except in conjunction with other human organisms."