Management Matters

Introduction: What is management?

In 1999, soon after the sex scandal which very nearly sunk his Presidency, Bill Clinton turned to NASA with a very curious request. The 30th anniversary of the moon landings were coming up and he wanted a piece of moon rock, a 3.6 billion year old lump, to sit on a table in the Oval Office. Meetings in the White House at the time were fractious. Everyone was angry with Clinton for what he had done. The mood in Washington was tense and more argumentative than usual. The rock served as a reality check. As Clinton later explained: ‘When people started the crazy stuff, I’d say, “Wait a minute, guys. See that rock, it’s 3.6 billion years old. We’re all just passing through, take a break, calm down, let’s see what ...