Mary Parker Follett was an American social worker, management consultant, philosopher, and pioneer in the fields of organizational theory and organizational behavior.
Born: 3 September 1868, United States
Died: 18 December 1933, United Kingdom
That is always our problem, not how to get control of people, but how all together we can get control of a situation.
All polishing is done by friction.
Management is the art of getting things done through people.
Leadership is not defined by the exercise of power but by the capacity to increase the sense of power among those led. The most essential work of the leader is to create more leaders.
The manager cannot share his power with division superintendent or foreman or workman, but he can give them opportunities for developing their power.
We must face life as it is and understand that diversity is its most essential feature.
Conflict is resolved not through compromise, but through invention.
What people often mean by getting rid of conflict is getting rid of diversity, and it is of the utmost importance that these should not be considered the same.
The best leader does not ask people to serve him, but the common end. The best leader has not followers, but men and women working with him.
Leader and followers are both following the invisible leader — the common purpose.
Unity, not uniformity, must be our aim. We attain unity only through variety. Differences must be integrated, not annihilated, not absorbed.
No one has a greater asset for his business than a man’s pride in his work.
Responsibility is the great developer of men.
Most people are not for or against anything; the first object of getting people together is to make them respond somehow, to overcome inertia.
Experience may be hard but we claim its gifts because they are real, even though our feet bleed on its stones.
There are three ways of dealing with difference: domination, compromise, and integration. By domination only one side gets what it wants; by compromise neither side gets what it wants; by integration we find a way by which both sides may get what they wish.
No one can give us democracy, we must learn democracy.
