Russell L. Ackoff

"the performance of the whole is never the sum of the performance of the parts taken separately, but it's the product of their interactions."

— Russell L. Ackoff (1919-2009)

"A system is never the sum of its parts its the product of their interaction."

— Russell L. Ackoff (1919-2009)

"Managers who don't know how to measure what they want settle for wanting what they can measure."

— Russell L. Ackoff (1919-2009)

"n a system the best way to treat a problem is seldom where the problem appears, because of the interactions of the parts."

— Russell L. Ackoff (1919-2009)

"Effective management must be directed at what you want, not against what you don't want."

— Russell L. Ackoff (1919-2009)

"Successful problem solving requires finding the right solution to the right problem. We fail more often because we solve the wrong problem than because we get the wrong solution to the right problem."

— Russell L. Ackoff (1919-2009)

"A good deal of the corporate planning I have observed is like a ritual rain dance; it has no effect on the weather that follows, but those who engage in it think it does. Moreover, it seems to me that much of the advice and instruction related to corporate planning is directed at improving the dancing, not the weather."

— Russell L. Ackoff (1919-2009)

"If there isn't joy in work, you won't get productivity, and you won't get quality."

— Russell L. Ackoff (1919-2009)

"It is far better to do the right thing wrong than to do the wrong thing right."

— Russell L. Ackoff (1919-2009)

"The more efficient you are at doing the wrong thing, the wronger you become. It is much better to do the right thing wronger than the wrong thing righter. If you do the right thing wrong and correct it, you get better."

— Russell L. Ackoff (1919-2009)

"We can only learn from mistakes, by identifying them, determining their source, and correcting them... people learn more from their own mistakes than from the successes of others."

— Russell L. Ackoff (1919-2009)

"Traditional education focuses on teaching, not learning. It incorrectly assumes that for every ounce of teaching there is an ounce of learning by those who are taught. However, most of what we learn before, during, and after attending schools is learned without its being taught to us. A child learns such fundamental things as how to walk, talk, eat, dress, and so on without being taught these things. Adults learn most of what they use at work or at leisure while at work or leisure. Most of what is taught in classroom settings is forgotten, and much or what is remembered is irrelevant."

— Russell L. Ackoff (1919-2009)

"The objective of education is learning, not teaching."

— Russell L. Ackoff (1919-2009)

"A bureaucrat is one who has the power to say 'no' but none to say 'yes.'"

— Russell L. Ackoff (1919-2009)

"Unless people can express themselves well in ordinary English, they don't know what they are talking about."

— Russell L. Ackoff (1919-2009)

"The most valuable and least replacable resource is time."

— Russell L. Ackoff (1919-2009)

"The healthcare system of the United States is not a healthcare system; it is a sickness and disability-care system."

— Russell L. Ackoff (1919-2009)

"The educational system is not dedicated to produce learning by students, but teaching by teachers—and teaching is a major obstruction to learning."

— Russell L. Ackoff (1919-2009)

"The best thing that can be done to a problem is not to solve it but to dissolve it."

— Russell L. Ackoff (1919-2009)

"Problems are not disciplinary in nature but are holistic."

— Russell L. Ackoff (1919-2009)