03/05/2025

The rise of planning departments and plans tends to circumscribe the discretion of the man on the firing line. Thus, it usually is true that with more extensive planning a large group of employees have less freedom in the exercise of their own judgment. Conformity, rather than originality, is expected of them. This restriction on initiative tends to snuf out the creative spark that is so essential in a successful enterprise, and it also has a bad effect on morale.

— William H. Newman, Administrative Action