Knowledge workers Quote by Tom DeMarco
““We have become so obsessed with getting rid of people who are burdened with the characterization overhead that we have ended up with organizations where many high-priced knowledge workers and managers are spending as much as a quarter of their time being their own overhead.””
About This Quote
Organizations obsess over eliminating burdensome workers, leading to high-priced knowledge workers spending much time on overhead instead of productive work.
In simple terms: Companies focus too much on cutting staff, causing knowledge workers to waste time on admin.
Reduce overhead to let knowledge workers focus on core tasks.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- process optimization
- workflow redesign
- resource allocation
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- How can you streamline overhead without losing quality?
- What tools help knowledge workers stay productive?
Administrative tasks can still be necessary.