唐纳德・亨利・拉姆斯菲尔德（Donald Henry Rumsfeld，1932—2021），出生于美国芝加哥，德裔美国政治家，美国前国防部长。
拉姆斯菲尔德是第一个曾两度出任美国国防部长的人，1975 年至 1977 年在福特政府中出任该职，当时是美国历史上最年轻的国防部长。
他写过一本关于自己的书，叫 《拉姆斯菲尔德的规则：在商业，政治，战争和人生中的领导力》，非常精炼地总结了他一生中遵循的规则，我在这里列举并尝试翻译，欢迎留言指正，希望对你有所启发和帮助。
已知未知
There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know.
有些事情我们知道自己知道。有些事情我们知道自己不知道。但是记住，有些事情我们并不知道我们不知道，保持谦虚和谨慎是每个管理者应该有的态度。
优秀的人
A’s hire A’s. B’s hire C’s. If you want to find out which managers are A’s and which are B’s, take a hard look at the teams that surround them.
优秀的人会雇佣更优秀的人，不那么优秀的人会雇佣更不那么优秀的人。怎么才能知道哪些管理者是优秀的哪些是不那么优秀的？仔细观察他的团队和他身边的人你就会有答案。
度量改进
What you measure improves. By measuring or inspecting, you instinctively act and make decisions in ways that make you more likely to achieve the desired result.
你度量什么就会改进什么。通过度量和观察，你会本能地去做出反应和决策，这样可以让你更有可能达到你想要的目标。
面对错误
Bad news doesn’t get better with time. If you have fouled up something, it’s best to tell the boss fast.
坏消息不会越来越好，只会越来越坏。如果你已经搞砸了一些事，最好立刻告诉你的老板。
头脑清醒
Those who write and speak clearly—free of jargon and cant—are most likely to be the ones who think clearly and are therefore indispensable for good decision-making and sound policy.
那些能写清楚和说清楚事情的人 —— 没有行话和拐弯抹角 —— 他们可能是是那些思维最清晰的人。这样的人对做出明智的决策和制定健全的制度至关重要。
不同的声音
If everyone in the room seems convinced of the brilliance of an idea, it may be a sign that the organization would benefit from more dissent and debate.
如果房间里每个人看起来都相信一个想法完美无比，无懈可击，这可能表明组织里更需要异议和辩论。
人更重要
Without the best people in place, the best ideas don’t matter.
没有找到最合适的人，再好的想法也没有任何价值。
The most motivated employees believe in the why of what they are doing.
最有动力的员工知道自己为什么要做这些事，这些事能给他带来什么价值和意义。
好的想法
Some of the best ideas can come from the sparks and thoughts generated during lively discussions around a conference table or lunch conversation among people who have opposing views.
一些最好的想法可能来自于会议桌上激烈的讨论，或者持有相反的观点的人之间的午餐对话。争论可以碰撞出不可思议的火花。
重要的事
If you are working from your inbox, you are working on other people’s priorities.
如果你从收件箱开始工作，其实你是从别人的优先级开始工作。
If you don’t know what your top three priorities are, you don’t have priorities.
如果你不知最重要的三件事是什么，说明你对重要性没有概念。
控制和自由
Don’t “over control” like a novice pilot. Stay loose enough from the flow that you can observe and calibrate.
不要像一个新手飞行员那样过度控制你所能控制的。保持足够自由，这样你才能去观察和调整自己的姿态。
自愿跟随
Leadership is by consent, not command. A leader must persuade.
领导力是让别人同意和自愿跟随，而不是通过命令让他人跟随。作为领导者必须能说服别人，私下的接触和交流对塑造领导力也至关重要。
探索和试错
Find out what people are working on, what their worries are, what they are wondering about, and what ideas they might have. Learning new things and forging new relationships takes time for a leader, but it is well worth it.
了解人们正在做什么，他们担心什么，他们想要什么，他们有什么想法。对于领导者来说，学习新的东西和建立新的关系都需要时间，但这是非常值得去做的事情。
Trial and error are the essence of discovery. Your organization should be hospitable to both.
尝试和犯错是探索的本质，你的组织应该鼓励和支持这样的行为。
The most successful organizations create an environment that is hospitable to risk-taking, innovation, and creativity.
最成功的组织会去创造了一个适合冒险、创新和创造的环境。
简单才高效
Reduce layers of management. They put distance between the top of an organization and the customers.
减少管理的层级，更少的管理层级可以缩短你和真正的客户之间的距离。
Prudent managers prune regularly.
谨慎的管理者会定期给自己做减法，并不是越多越好。
指导后走开
A useful lesson for managers is to provide your troops guidance, but then step out of the way and let them do their jobs. If you’ve picked the right people, and trained them well, chances are they will succeed.
对于管理者来说，最有用的建议是提供指导，然后让开，让他们去完成自己的工作。如果你选择了合适的人，给他们良好的训练，他们会走向成功。