Theodoric
19-01-2004, 22:28
I was browsing through my dog-eared copy of Machiavelli's The Prince earlier and it occurred to me that if you substituted the word 'manager' for the word 'prince' he still made perfect sense. For example:
A manager should not deviate from what is good, if that is possible, but he should know how to do evil, if that is necessary.
A manager should always seek advice. But he should do so when he wants to, not when others want him to; indeed, he should discourage anyone from tendering advice about anything unless it is asked for. All the same, he should be a constant questioner and listen patiently to the truth regarding what he has inquired about. Moreover, if he finds that anyone for some reason holds the truth back he should show his wrath.
The following question arises: whether it is better to be loved than feared, or the reverse. The answer is that one would like to be both one and the other; but because it is difficult to combine them, it is far better to be feared than loved if you cannot be both. One can make this generalisation about men: they are ungrateful, fickle, liars and deceivers; they shun danger and are greedy for profit; while you treat them well, they are yours. They would shed blood for you, risk their property, their lives, their children, so long, as I said above, as danger is remote; but when you are in danger they turn against you. Any manager who has come to depend entirely on promises and has taken no other precautions ensures his own ruin.
The manager should nonetheless make himself feared in such a way that, if he is not loved, at least he escapes being hated. For fear is quite compatible with an absence of hatred.
The fact is that a man who wants to act virtuously in every way necessarily comes to grief among so many who are not virtuous. Therefore if a manager wants to maintain his rule he must learn how not to be virtuous, and to make use of this or not according to need.
A manager should not deviate from what is good, if that is possible, but he should know how to do evil, if that is necessary.
A manager should always seek advice. But he should do so when he wants to, not when others want him to; indeed, he should discourage anyone from tendering advice about anything unless it is asked for. All the same, he should be a constant questioner and listen patiently to the truth regarding what he has inquired about. Moreover, if he finds that anyone for some reason holds the truth back he should show his wrath.
The following question arises: whether it is better to be loved than feared, or the reverse. The answer is that one would like to be both one and the other; but because it is difficult to combine them, it is far better to be feared than loved if you cannot be both. One can make this generalisation about men: they are ungrateful, fickle, liars and deceivers; they shun danger and are greedy for profit; while you treat them well, they are yours. They would shed blood for you, risk their property, their lives, their children, so long, as I said above, as danger is remote; but when you are in danger they turn against you. Any manager who has come to depend entirely on promises and has taken no other precautions ensures his own ruin.
The manager should nonetheless make himself feared in such a way that, if he is not loved, at least he escapes being hated. For fear is quite compatible with an absence of hatred.
The fact is that a man who wants to act virtuously in every way necessarily comes to grief among so many who are not virtuous. Therefore if a manager wants to maintain his rule he must learn how not to be virtuous, and to make use of this or not according to need.