Many years ago I devised a framed poster for my father, Milt Bryce, which I presented him at Christmas. I entitled it “Bryce’s Laws,” which was patterned after “Murphy’s Laws.” In it, I listed the many axioms he had coined over the years pertaining to systems, management, and other technical concepts. The poster delighted not only my father, but our customers as well who quickly snapped up the copies we produced. Since then, “Bryce’s Laws,” have survived on the Internet at our web site.
Of course, the laws didn’t stagnate, we kept adding to them over the years and continue to do so today, and not just by Milt, who passed away in 2005, but by other members of the clan including yours truly.
The following is a set of “Bryce’s Laws” aimed at life in general, not just management or technology. I hope you will enjoy them:
If anything in life is constant, it is change.
An elegant solution to the wrong problem solves nothing.
There is only one problem with common sense; it is not very common.
When you are constructing a building, it’s a bad idea to start with the roof.
The only good business relationship is where both parties benefit.
The ethics of a business are whatever the top-dog says they are.
“We never have enough time to do things right.”
Translation: “We have plenty of time to do things wrong.”
A man’s trustworthiness is measured by the number of keys he holds.
Most children are raised by amateurs, not professionals.
Never trust a person who doesn’t have at least one known vice.
Lawsuits primarily benefit the attorneys and nobody else.
You eat elephants one spoonful at a time.
If the mind really is the finest computer, then there are a lot of people out there who need to be rebooted.
It’s hard to keep going forward when logic tells you otherwise.
There is more to building a team than buying new uniforms.
A resume is either an accurate description of a person’s capabilities or demonstrates how well someone can write fiction.
Youth is our only true vacation in life, and our most unappreciated.
It’s not the time you put in, it’s the work product you put out.
The road to truth is rarely without bumps and bends.
Nothing irritates your opponents more than to see you succeed when you are expected to fail.
Do not underestimate the power of the company party.
Progress is arrested when we surrender to the status quo, that we no longer strive to exceed it.
Sometimes intelligence is nothing more than experience in disguise.
The longer you delay admitting a mistake, the more expensive it will be to correct.
All arguments are settled at the cemetery.
There is always a heavy price to pay for keeping up with the Jones’.
In every person’s life, you must eat at least one spoonful of dirt.
Keep the Faith!
Note: All trademarks both marked and unmarked belong to their respective companies.
Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of M. Bryce & Associates (MBA) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 30 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at [email protected]
For Tim’s columns, see:
http://www.phmainstreet.com/timbryce.htm
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Copyright © 2011 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.