...all models are approximations. Essentially, all models are wrong, but some are useful. However, the approximate nature of the model must always be borne in mind... — George E. P. Box Copy Share Image
The only way to know how a complex system will behave-after you modify it-is to modify it and see how it behaves. — George E. P. Box Copy Share
To find out what happens to a system when you interfere with it you have to interfere with it (not just passively observe it). — George E. P. Box Copy Share
For the theory-practice iteration to work, the scientist must be, as it were, mentally ambidextrous; fascinated equally on the one hand by possible meanings,… — George E. P. Box Copy Share
Statisticians, like artists, have the bad habit of falling in love with their models. — George E. P. Box Copy Share
The benefits provided by worker participation are twofold. Quality is improved because of the finding and fixing of a very large number of problems,… — George E. P. Box Copy Share
The old-fashioned idea of a good manager is one who is supposed to know all the answers, can solve every problem himself, and can… — George E. P. Box Copy Share
Just as the ability to devise simple but evocative models is the signature of the great scientist so overelaboration and overparameterization is often the… — George E. P. Box Copy Share
The business of the statistician is to catalyze the scientific learning process. — George E. P. Box Copy Share
The management system which makes only a pretense of valuing employee involvement and encouraging employee empowerment merely breeds cynicism. — George E. P. Box Copy Share
Management must provide employees with tools that will enable them to do their jobs better, and with encouragement to use these tools. In particular,… — George E. P. Box Copy Share
Discovering the unexpected is more important than confirming the known. — George E. P. Box Copy Share
...all models are approximations. Essentially, all models are wrong, but some are useful. However, the approximate nature of the model must always be borne… — George E. P. Box Copy Share
Remember that all models are wrong; the practical question is how wrong do they have to be to not be useful. — George E. P. Box Copy Share
Statistics is, or should be, about scientific investigation and how to do it better, but many statisticians believe it is a branch of mathematics.… — George E. P. Box Copy Share