Talk:manage

When you identify a current situation, identify an intended future situation, plan the transition from the current to intended situation, implement the transition, and adjust the implementation, the plan, the intended situation, and the current situation as you proceed in the transition, you "manage".

Norman Vincent Peale referred to the "rational thought process" as, roughly, "knowing where you are, knowing where you want to go, and planning how to get there", which fits the above description of "manage".

The 1963 Encyclopedia of Management indicated that you manage when you: resolve complexity and diversity in science and society into a system of controlled order.

The definitions of "manage" and "management" in Wiktionary are not broad enough, general enough, or encompassing enough to capture the meaning above, which portray manage and management as a process.

A dictionary should not rely on experts for definitions. It needs to rely on evidence of how people actually use words. When we try to define a word we look at the range of meanings in other dictionaries, for example, using the gateway provided by [OneLook.com]. We also look at how the word is used at google books and google news and sometimes COCA or BNC.

For this entry the definition seems dated. Many definitions on Wiktionary are largely unchanged since being imported from the Merriam-Webster 1913 dictionary. Management was relatively new at the time. I encourage you to take a crack at it. Either put suggested wording here or insert it in the entry, imitating the formatting of what's already present if you are not familiar with wikitext. I'll be taking a look. DCDuring TALK 14:27, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

RFV
Rfv-sense: to force. I haven't heard of this sense before. Has anyone else? Please provide an example. --Hekaheka (talk) 20:44, 25 March 2012 (UTC)


 * "Force" could mean a few things, e.g. force a lock, force someone's hand, force somebody to do something. However, I can't think of any sense that fits, nor can I find one in the old Webster 1913 or in modern Chambers 2005. Equinox ◑ 20:48, 25 March 2012 (UTC)
 * I'd be happy enough for it to be speedy deleted, it's so vague that it could be considered to have no usable content. Anyone wanting to cite it will have to define it first. Mglovesfun (talk) 20:49, 25 March 2012 (UTC)
 * It looks like part of the following definition: "to succeed at an attempt." That is, "She managed to get him to go" (forced her to go). To me, it seems that "to succeed at an attempt" should have "with difficulty" appended to the end of it. BenjaminBarrett12 (talk) 21:07, 25 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Ah, that could definitely be what was meant, but in that case it's basically wrong because if I "manage" to convince you to buy me dinner then I haven't forced you, only persuaded; and the "managing" is not the persuasion per se but the succeeding in the attempt. Equinox ◑ 21:11, 25 March 2012 (UTC)
 * I agree that manage is likely to be interpretable as "force" only in some circumstances and ambiguously even then. But this US Army Corps of Engineers quote may be the kind of usage that the user was trying to capture: "it was necessary to have tbe dredge by the side of the wharf or some high bank, as they weigh about 4000 pounds each, aud would be awkward to manage and get into place without the proper facilities for doing so." or "We often view change strictly as something that is managed or decreed into place."
 * I still wouldn't gloss such usage as "force"; I'm just saying. DCDuring TALK 21:27, 25 March 2012 (UTC)
 * The closest subsense MWOnline has is "to make and keep compliant ". DCDuring TALK 21:37, 25 March 2012 (UTC)
 * MW 1828 has "5. To make subservient.  DCDuring TALK 21:41, 25 March 2012 (UTC)

I dared to delete the sense as a conclusion of this discussion. --Hekaheka (talk) 15:30, 19 April 2012 (UTC)

It's possible this could be cited... - -sche (discuss) 05:39, 25 May 2012 (UTC)