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Recently I came to hear the term "Charlie Brown management" in a news article. I tried searching the net on this term, but didn't get anything useful. Please help me to decipher this idiom.

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2 Answers

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"Charlie Brown" refers to the character in the cartoon strip Peanuts.

Charlie Brown always failed in every thing he does.

The President of the company was stating how bad management was.

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Thanks for the response. – AbrahamJP May 26 '11 at 9:09
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The article defines it for you, if you read it.

Still, Ballmer isn’t taking advantage of Microsoft’s opportunities, Einhorn said. In his criticism, he likened Ballmer to Charlie Brown, a perpetual loser in baseball, football and other pursuits. The cartoon character’s signature lament is, “Good grief!”

I'm assuming that you just read the first paragraph. ಠ_ಠ

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That sentence just compares Ballmer to Charlie Brown. It's one thing to compare the two (which isn't that bad a comparison, on a lot of levels) but 'Charlie Brown management' implies there is something about how the company is being managed that's Charlie Brown-like. It's not a very good metaphor. – Scott K. May 26 '11 at 21:34
Charlie Brown was (is? surely he is immortal) the manager of a baseball team which never won a game, partly but not entirely because of his incompetence. I feel a management advice best-seller coming on... – TimLymington Jul 5 '11 at 13:38

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