Michel Loos

Michel Loos Master of Science in Technical Management, Industrial Engineer in Applied Computer Sciences

A few interesting citations:

About problems and solutions

Current problems can only result from past decisions or random events or othervise they are false problems.
Today's problems come from yesterday's solutions.
Indentifying the root cause of a problem is an art. Designing solutions is business as usual.
I hear and I forget; I see and I remember; I do and I understand.
It isn't that they can't see the solution. It's that they can't see the problem.

About intellectual inbreeding - or a few good reasons to have somebody from outside have a look at your organization from time to time

Inbreeding exists when someone who is familiar with the organisation has come to accept its ways of doing things.
Such people are less likely to come up with creative and innovative ideas for improvement.

We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them (Einstein).

The way we see the problem is the problem.

About the challenges of management

The characteristics of our contemporary society demand the development of new methods of management. Of the many forces involved, three are paramount:
(1) the exponential expansion of human knowledge,
(2) the growing demand for a broad range of complex, sophisticated, customized goods and services; and
(3) the evolution of worldwide competitive markets for the production and consumption of goods and services.

About projects, project management and project managers

A project is a problem sceduled for solution.
Projects have life cycles and often, like organic entities, resist termination.
The intended user of the project is the major determinant of its success.
You lead people but you manage things - that's why a good project manager is a leader.
Risk and conflict avoiders do not make happy project managers.

About differences

Strength lies in differences, not in similarities.
A good manager doesn't try to eliminate conflict; he tries to keep it from wasting the energies of his people. If you're the boss and your people fight you openly when they think that you are wrong - that's healthy.