Dead Presidents
The Dead Presidents’ Guide to Project Management considers 40 brief lessons that these great men have bestowed upon us. It is the author’s opinion that the job of president of the United States requires a lot of the same strengths and characteristics needed by both project managers and executive sponsors. Most projects need both a strong, skilled executive sponsor and a project manager (or if an organization follows an agile methodology such as Scrum, then a Scrum master and product owner); and both positions can learn from our dead presidents.
Advice Articles
“The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend.” Abraham Lincoln
“The people are the government” said Andrew Jackson.
“Washington, D.C., is 12 square miles bordered by reality.” Andrew Johnson
“Frequently the more trifling the subject, the more animated and protracted the discussion.” Franklin Pierce
“It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one,” said George Washington.
“The ballot box is the surest arbiter of disputes among free men.” James Buchanan
The Presidency is no bed of roses. [James Polk]
“Ambition must be made to counteract ambition,” said James Madison.
"A little flattery will support a man through great fatigue”, said James Monroe.
“I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy,” said John Adams.
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader”, said John Quincy Adams.
“I can never consent to being dictated to.”
“I tread in the footsteps of illustrious men” said Martin Van Buren.
“An exuberance of enterprise should cause some individuals to mistake change for progress.” Millard Fillmore
“I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past,” said Thomas Jefferson.
“My failures have been errors in judgment, not of intent.” Ulysses S. Grant
“The only legitimate right to govern is an express grant of power from the governed.” William Henry Harrison
“I have no private purpose to accomplish ... nothing to serve but my country.”
