"The fellow who never makes a mistake takes his orders from one who does"
About this Quote
Perfection is not a badge of honor here; its a tell. Prochnow flips the usual workplace compliment on its head by implying that the person who "never makes a mistake" is rarely the one doing the real work. That spotless record signals something else: insulation. If you never blow a call, you probably never had to make one.
The line works because it weaponizes a familiar hierarchy. "Takes his orders" is blunt, almost managerial shorthand, and it exposes a quiet truth about organizations: risk flows downward, credit floats upward. The subordinate who executes without error is praised for reliability, but Prochnow suggests that reliability is often purchased with obedience. Meanwhile the decision-maker who issues directives gets to be wrong in public, revise the plan, and still retain authority. The boss can "make mistakes" because the boss is allowed to act.
Subtextually, Prochnow is defending fallibility as a proxy for agency. Mistakes become evidence of participation in the messy parts of life: judgment, experimentation, leadership. Its also a jab at bureaucratic cultures that reward caution and punish initiative. If the safest route to appearing competent is to follow instructions perfectly, then competence becomes a performance, not a practice.
Context matters: Prochnow wrote in an American business milieu that prized efficiency and managerial order. His warning feels tailor-made for corporate systems that confuse errorlessness with excellence - and for anyone tempted to mistake a clean record for a courageous one.
The line works because it weaponizes a familiar hierarchy. "Takes his orders" is blunt, almost managerial shorthand, and it exposes a quiet truth about organizations: risk flows downward, credit floats upward. The subordinate who executes without error is praised for reliability, but Prochnow suggests that reliability is often purchased with obedience. Meanwhile the decision-maker who issues directives gets to be wrong in public, revise the plan, and still retain authority. The boss can "make mistakes" because the boss is allowed to act.
Subtextually, Prochnow is defending fallibility as a proxy for agency. Mistakes become evidence of participation in the messy parts of life: judgment, experimentation, leadership. Its also a jab at bureaucratic cultures that reward caution and punish initiative. If the safest route to appearing competent is to follow instructions perfectly, then competence becomes a performance, not a practice.
Context matters: Prochnow wrote in an American business milieu that prized efficiency and managerial order. His warning feels tailor-made for corporate systems that confuse errorlessness with excellence - and for anyone tempted to mistake a clean record for a courageous one.
Quote Details
| Topic | Decision-Making |
|---|---|
| Source | Unverified source: Speaker's Handbook of Epigrams and Witticisms (Herbert Prochnow, 1955)
Evidence: p. 197. The quotation is attributed to Herbert V. Prochnow in his own book *Speaker's Handbook of Epigrams and Witticisms* (New York: Harper, 1955). Wikiquote specifically locates the line on page 197 in that book. I was able to corroborate the book’s bibliographic details (publisher/year/edition... Other candidates (2) Herbert V. Prochnow (Herbert Prochnow) compilation98.2% 8 the fellow who never makes a mistake takes his orders from one who does p 197 the trou Sometimes You Win--Sometimes You Learn (John C. Maxwell, 2013) compilation95.0% ... Herbert V. Prochnow asserted, “The fellow who never makes a mistake takes his orders from one who does.” Why? Bec... |
| Featured | This quote was our Quote of the Day on January 13, 2026 |
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