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Who really said it

Reorganizing is a Wonderful Method for Creating the Illusion of Progress while Actually Producing Confusion, Inefficiency, and Demoralization

Not Gaius Petronius Arbiter — actually Charlton Ogburn Jr. Charlton Ogburn Jr. 1911–1998 · American writer & Merrill’s Marauders veteran
Disputed In copyright

The line comes from Ogburn’s article “Merrill’s Marauders: The Truth about an Incredible Adventure” in Harper’s Magazine, January 1957, where he recalled his unit being reorganized again and again during training. Quote Investigator ↗ found no substantive evidence that Petronius ever wrote it. The popular wording is a simplified version of Ogburn’s sentence, and the Petronius credit had appeared by 1966.

Last verified 1 Nov 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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Disputed wording — copy with the correction

“Reorganizing is a Wonderful Method for Creating the Illusion of Progress while Actually Producing Confusion, Inefficiency, and Demoralization” Charlton Ogburn Jr., “Merrill’s Marauders,” Harper’s Magazine, January 1957 (often misattributed to Petronius) · Verbatim: “Perhaps because we are so good at organizing, we tend as a nation to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization.”

Can you use it?

Still under copyright (rights held by Estate of Charlton Ogburn Jr. and/or Harper’s Magazine (publisher)). A short, credited quote is generally fine for talks, teaching, and internal decks; for commercial, published, or large-scale reuse, get permission.

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In context

Evoking the world of Charlton Ogburn Jr. — American writer, Merrill’s Marauders communications officer. Theme: "Reorganizing is a Wonderful Method for Creating the Illusion of Progress while Actually Producing Confusion, Inefficiency, and Demoralization". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Minimalist

Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "Reorganizing is a Wonderful Method for Creating the Illusion of Progress while Actually Producing Confusion, Inefficiency, and Demoralization". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Provenance

The original passage

Article
Merrill’s Marauders: The Truth about an Incredible Adventure
Author
Charlton Ogburn Jr.
Published in
Harper’s Magazine, January 1957 (vol. 214, no. 1280; quote on pp. 32–33, per Quote Investigator)
Later version
The Marauders (Harper & Brothers, 1959), p. 60, reworded

We trained hard, but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams we would be reorganized. Presumably the plans for our employment were being changed. I was to learn later in life that, perhaps because we are so good at organizing, we tend as a nation to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization. During our reorganizations, several commanding officers were tried out on us, which added to the discontinuity. Harper’s Magazine, January 1957

Passage as transcribed by Quote Investigator, which verified it on microfilm. The popular “Reorganizing is a wonderful method…” form doesn’t appear in this text. It is a shortened version of the middle sentence.

Harper's Magazine archive: Merrill's Marauders, by Charlton Ogburn (January 1957)

How we traced it

  • Quote Investigator ↗ found “no substantive evidence that Gaius Petronius Arbiter employed this quotation” and credits it to Charlton Ogburn Jr., in Harper’s Magazine (January 1957) and his book The Marauders (1959).
  • Wikiquote’s Petronius page ↗ lists the passage under “Misattributed” and credits Charlton Ogburn’s “Merrill’s Marauders” in Harper’s Magazine, January 1957.
  • Harper’s own archive ↗ lists the January 1957 article “Merrill’s Marauders” by Charlton Ogburn, subtitled “The truth about an incredible adventure.”
  • Wikipedia’s Ogburn article ↗ says the quote is often misattributed to Petronius and points to D. S. Brown’s note “Petronius or Ogburn” in Public Administration Review.
In copyright

The wording comes from Ogburn’s article in Harper’s Magazine, January 1957, a US work first published after 1931, so we treat it as in copyright. It is quoted here briefly for commentary. Petronius’s actual ancient writings are public domain, but this line is not among them.

Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.

Fact-check

How it got pinned on a Roman

Ogburn’s 1957 complaint about Army reorganizations got passed around without his name. Later it was dressed up as ancient wisdom.

Gaius Petronius Arbiter No evidence

Petronius was a courtier of Nero and the likely author of the Satyricon. Quote Investigator ↗ found no substantive evidence that he wrote the line. The person who sent QI the question couldn’t find it in any ancient work either.

“One of the officers of Merrill’s Marauders” Name dropped

Col. George H. Hollingsworth quoted a slightly modified version of the Harper’s text and credited it only to an unnamed Marauders officer, as documented by Quote Investigator ↗.

Rep. John P. Saylor, quoting “Petronius Arbiter” Petronius appears

In a September 1966 article about overlapping federal agencies, Saylor credited the line to “Petronius Arbiter, a Roman official at the time of Nero.” Quote Investigator writes that “by 1966 the statement had been reassigned” to Petronius (QI ↗).

Robert Townsend’s management bestseller Spread it

Townsend, who had led Avis, printed the quotation in his “Reorganizing” section with a Petronius credit. The reader who asked QI says a footnote dated it “circa A.D. 60” (QI ↗).

Credit it to Charlton Ogburn Jr., Harper’s Magazine, January 1957, which he later reworded in The Marauders (1959). That is the conclusion of Quote Investigator ↗, and Wikiquote ↗ agrees.

Context

Why the line endures

Ogburn was remembering training with Merrill’s Marauders in World War II. Every time his men started to form up into teams, the unit was reorganized again, and commanding officers kept changing. He turned that experience into a broader point about how institutions react to anything new.

His 1959 book The Marauders reworded the passage: Americans “have a gift for organizing,” and reorganizing creates “the illusion of progress at a mere cost of confusion, inefficiency and demoralization” (as transcribed by Quote Investigator ↗). Management writers later picked up the shorter form. Crediting it to an ancient Roman made the joke feel timeless, but the observation comes from a 20th-century American soldier.

a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Change Work Leadership

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Quote Investigator: Reorganizing is a Wonderful Method…quoteinvestigator.com

The authoritative trace: Harper's 1957, The Marauders 1959, Air University Review 1963, the Petronius credit by 1966, and Townsend's 1970 book.
Wikiquote: Petronius (Misattributed)en.wikiquote.org

Lists the passage as misattributed and credits Charlton Ogburn, Harper's Magazine, January 1957.
Harper's Magazine archive: Merrill's Maraudersharpers.org

The original January 1957 article by Charlton Ogburn (full text for subscribers).
Wikipedia: Charlton Ogburnen.wikipedia.org

Biography of the real author, with a note on the Petronius misattribution.
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub: Reorganization creates illusion of progresstimpanogos.blog

Ed Darrell's blog post, thanked by QI, comparing the Harper's and book versions.
Project Gutenberg: The Satyricongutenberg.org

The surviving work traditionally credited to Petronius Arbiter, for anyone checking his real writing.

Who actually wrote it

About the real author

Charlton Ogburn Jr.

1911–1998 · American writer, Merrill’s Marauders communications officer

Born in Atlanta, Ogburn served in the China Burma India Theater in World War II as a communications officer with Merrill’s Marauders. His 1957 Harper’s article about the unit led to his 1959 book The Marauders, which was filmed as Merrill’s Marauders (1962). He later became a leading Oxfordian, best known for The Mysterious William Shakespeare (1984).

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Cite the original

Charlton Ogburn Jr., “Merrill’s Marauders: The Truth about an Incredible Adventure,” Harper’s Magazine 214, no. 1280 (January 1957): 32–33. Often misattributed to Gaius Petronius Arbiter.

This verification page

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