--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I actually spent a lot of time reading…" description: "\"I actually spent a lot of time reading about how professional managers work. And how people build bridges.\" — Barry Barish" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75e/barry-barish-17802_bridges_i-actually-spent-a-lot-of-time-reading-a_1932543.jpg" --- # I actually spent a lot of time reading about how… ![“I actually spent a lot of time reading about how professional managers work. And how people build bridges.” quote by Barry Barish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75e/barry-barish-17802_bridges_i-actually-spent-a-lot-of-time-reading-a_1932543.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75e/barry-barish-17802_bridges_i-actually-spent-a-lot-of-time-reading-a_1932543.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75e/barry-barish-17802_bridges_i-actually-spent-a-lot-of-time-reading-a_1932543.jpg) > “I actually spent a lot of time reading about how professional managers work. And how people build bridges.” [Barry Barish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-barish/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Understanding how managers operate and how bridges are built highlights the blend of leadership and technical skill required for complex projects. **In simple terms:** Managers and bridge builders need both leadership and engineering. Key Takeaway Combine strategic thinking with practical execution. Themes leadership engineering collaboration Mood analytical inspired Type professional educational When to use this quote - project planning - team leadership - construction management - organizational design Key Concepts systems thinking infrastructure human dynamics Questions to Reflect On - How do you align team goals with technical constraints? - What leadership style best supports complex engineering? A Different Perspective Balancing vision with technical details can be challenging. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bridges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bridges/) [Build Bridges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/build-bridges/) [Management](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/management/) [Managers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/managers/) [Managers Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/managers-work-3033549/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Professional Managers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/professional-managers-2933112/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Reading Professional](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading-professional-3033550/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work/) ## Related quotes > [Economic liberalisation has seen a big and often well-deserved spurt in executive compensation, especially for professional managers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sucheta-dalal/economic-liberalisation-has-seen-a-big-and-often-well-deserved-spurt/) [Sucheta Dalal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sucheta-dalal/) > [There are a lot of good managers out of work because there are only so many jobs out there, and if you get it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-coleman/there-are-a-lot-of-good-managers-out-of-work-because-there-are-only/) [Chris Coleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-coleman/) > [Managers will work for a salary. Entrepreneurs create new businesses. Many people have capital, but instead of making money for business they build houses…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gokongwei/managers-will-work-for-a-salary-entrepreneurs-create-new-businesses/) [John Gokongwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gokongwei/) > [My job is not to make decisions but to set stretch objectives and help our managers work out how to reach them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergio-marchionne/my-job-is-not-to-make-decisions-but-to-set-stretch-objectives-and/) [Sergio Marchionne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergio-marchionne/) > [I think that music is the only thing that is going to change minds and build bridges.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/snow-tha-product/i-think-that-music-is-the-only-thing-that-is-going-to-change-minds/) [Snow Tha Product](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/snow-tha-product/) > [Throughout my ministry, I have sought to build bridges between Jews and Christians.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/throughout-my-ministry-i-have-sought-to-build-bridges-between-jews/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [Looking out at that crowd, I imagined those who had not yet arrived, minority students who, in years to come, would make this multitude…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonia-sotomayor/looking-out-at-that-crowd-i-imagined-those-who-had-not-yet-arrived/) [Sonia Sotomayor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonia-sotomayor/) > [It's fascinating to me how they build bridges or tunnels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-ellis/it-s-fascinating-to-me-how-they-build-bridges-or-tunnels/) [Jill Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-ellis/) > [Americans are at our best when we build bridges between us, not walls around us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-swalwell/americans-are-at-our-best-when-we-build-bridges-between-us-not-walls/) [Eric Swalwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-swalwell/) > [Should and would build no bridges.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-jordan/should-and-would-build-no-bridges/) [Robert Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-jordan/) > [We have to build bridges that are stronger than the bombs that other people might throw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eboo-patel/we-have-to-build-bridges-that-are-stronger-than-the-bombs-that-other/) [Eboo Patel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eboo-patel/) > [I vowed we would defy the national politics of hyperpolarization and partisan divides and instead, build bridges of partnership.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wes-moore/i-vowed-we-would-defy-the-national-politics-of-hyperpolarization-and/) [Wes Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wes-moore/) > [“With stones, you can build walls to separate people or build bridges to unite them! Do the second thing in the name of ethics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/with-stones-you-can-build-walls-to-separate-people-or-build-bridges/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Each person is an island unto himself, in a very real sense; and he can only build bridges to other islands if he is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-rogers/each-person-is-an-island-unto-himself-in-a-very-real-sense-and-he-can/) [Carl Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-rogers/) > [Instead of building castles against your enemies, build bridges for them to come to you!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/instead-of-building-castles-against-your-enemies-build-bridges-for/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) ## More by Barry Barish > [The waves are subtle, altering spacetime and the distance between objects as far apart as the Earth and the Moon by much less than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-barish/the-waves-are-subtle-altering-spacetime-and-the-distance-between/) [Barry Barish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-barish/) > [When the signal reached LIGO from a collision of two stellar black holes that occurred 1.3 billion years ago, the 1,000-scientist-strong LIGO Scientific Collaboration…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-barish/when-the-signal-reached-ligo-from-a-collision-of-two-stellar-black/) [Barry Barish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-barish/) > [It's hard to do large, expensive projects without some sort of hierarchical structure where somebody can tell you - maybe softly, but at least…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-barish/it-s-hard-to-do-large-expensive-projects-without-some-sort-of/) [Barry Barish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-barish/) > [The detection of gravitational waves is truly a triumph of modern large-scale experimental physics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-barish/the-detection-of-gravitational-waves-is-truly-a-triumph-of-modern/) [Barry Barish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-barish/) > [It's very difficult to tell when you're successful, because it's so hard to make measurements.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-barish/it-s-very-difficult-to-tell-when-you-re-successful-because-it-s-so/) [Barry Barish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-barish/) > [I live on the Santa Monica Beach and bike up and down almost every day. I like exercise, and I like literature a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-barish/i-live-on-the-santa-monica-beach-and-bike-up-and-down-almost-every/) [Barry Barish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-barish/) > [I think the scientific goals and the technical challenges were the two things that equally motivated me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-barish/i-think-the-scientific-goals-and-the-technical-challenges-were-the/) [Barry Barish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-barish/) > [There's some aura about a Nobel Prize, there's a prestige, that gives me a responsibility that I didn't have before, that goes beyond my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-barish/there-s-some-aura-about-a-nobel-prize-there-s-a-prestige-that-gives/) [Barry Barish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-barish/) > [I have somewhat ambivalent feelings about the recognition of individuals when so much of this was a team effort.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-barish/i-have-somewhat-ambivalent-feelings-about-the-recognition-of/) [Barry Barish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-barish/) > [Anything that makes us take more seriously scientists - or economists or chemists or physicists or biologists - I think is helpful in times…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-barish/anything-that-makes-us-take-more-seriously-scientists-or-economists/) [Barry Barish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-barish/) > [If we are going to build an ambitious machine, then it's got to be a global machine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-barish/if-we-are-going-to-build-an-ambitious-machine-then-it-s-got-to-be-a/) [Barry Barish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-barish/) > [The first instrument is not the final instrument.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-barish/the-first-instrument-is-not-the-final-instrument/) [Barry Barish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-barish/) > [Scientists, especially physicists, we're presumptuous and think we can do everything better than everybody else. And one thing that I realized early is, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-barish/scientists-especially-physicists-we-re-presumptuous-and-think-we-can/) [Barry Barish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-barish/) > [I can't imagine that, now that we have another way to look at the universe, that there isn't going to be some enormous surprises.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-barish/i-can-t-imagine-that-now-that-we-have-another-way-to-look-at-the/) [Barry Barish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-barish/) > [When I was really young, my ambition wasn't to do science. I didn't really know that I could. It was to write a great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-barish/when-i-was-really-young-my-ambition-wasn-t-to-do-science-i-didn-t/) [Barry Barish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-barish/) [Explore all 36 Barry Barish quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-barish/) ## More Bridges quotes > [Poetry has, in a way, been my bridge to my acting career.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omari-hardwick/poetry-has-in-a-way-been-my-bridge-to-my-acting-career/) [Omari Hardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omari-hardwick/) > [Nothing teaches great writing like the very best books do. Yet, good teachers often help students cross that bridge, and I have to say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-glass/nothing-teaches-great-writing-like-the-very-best-books-do-yet-good/) [Julia Glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-glass/) > [In my rear view mirror the sun is going down sinking behind bridges in the road and I think of all the good things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-waters/in-my-rear-view-mirror-the-sun-is-going-down-sinking-behind-bridges/) [Roger Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-waters/) > [My first big mistake was made when, in a moment of weakness, I consented to learn the game; for a man who can frankly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/my-first-big-mistake-was-made-when-in-a-moment-of-weakness-i/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [The WPA was one of the most productive elements of FDR's alphabet soup of agencies because it put people to work building roads, bridges,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/the-wpa-was-one-of-the-most-productive-elements-of-fdr-s-alphabet/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [The sense that in this universe we are treated as strangers, the longing to be acknowledged, to meet with some response, to bridge some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-sense-that-in-this-universe-we-are-treated-as-strangers-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When you walk, try to think nothing! You can then obtain the silence of a streetlight or a bridge; stop thinking; after that, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/when-you-walk-try-to-think-nothing-you-can-then-obtain-the-silence-of/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [By the time they were pulling into the parking lot of the A&P, the mood was fading, the moment gone. Amy could feel it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-strout/by-the-time-they-were-pulling-into-the-parking-lot-of-the-a-p-the/) [Elizabeth Strout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-strout/) > [Al Pacino and Jeff Bridges do it for me in a big way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-scanlon/al-pacino-and-jeff-bridges-do-it-for-me-in-a-big-way/) [Angela Scanlon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-scanlon/) > [Instead of building castles against your enemies, build bridges for them to come to you!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/instead-of-building-castles-against-your-enemies-build-bridges-for/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Instead of finding himself in nerd heaven—where every nerd gets fifty-eight virgins to role-play with—he woke up in Robert Wood Johnson with two broken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/instead-of-finding-himself-in-nerd-heaven-where-every-nerd-gets-fifty/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [Each person is an island unto himself, in a very real sense; and he can only build bridges to other islands if he is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-rogers/each-person-is-an-island-unto-himself-in-a-very-real-sense-and-he-can/) [Carl Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-rogers/) > [The real test of a bridge player isn’t in keeping out of trouble, but in escaping once he’s in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-sheinwold/the-real-test-of-a-bridge-player-isn-t-in-keeping-out-of-trouble-but/) [Alfred Sheinwold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-sheinwold/) > [The law ... allows rich as well as poor to sleep under bridges.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/the-law-allows-rich-as-well-as-poor-to-sleep-under-bridges/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [Guys like Todd Bridges never overcame being a child star. You can't have any big failures. I've always felt regular. I played organized ball…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bow-wow/guys-like-todd-bridges-never-overcame-being-a-child-star-you-can-t/) [Bow Wow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bow-wow/) [Browse all 1,521 Bridges quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bridges/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I actually spent a lot of time reading about how professional managers work. 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