Unless people can express themselves well in ordinary English, they don't know what they are talking about. — Russell L. Ackoff Copy Share Image
Creativity is the ability to identify self-imposed constraints, remove them, and explore the consequences of their removal. — Russell L. Ackoff Copy Share
Managers who don't know how to measure what they want settle for wanting what they can measure. — Russell L. Ackoff Copy Share
A bureaucrat is one who has the power to say "no" but none to say "yes." — Russell L. Ackoff Copy Share
A problem never exists in isolation; it is surrounded by other problems in space and time. The more of the context of a problem… — Russell L. Ackoff Copy Share
“Contrary to the impression that the educational system promulgates, there are no absolute answers to questions; the correct answer to a question depends on… — Russell L. Ackoff Copy Share
Most corporate mission statements are worthless. They consist largely of pious platitudes such as: "We will hold ourselves to the highest standards of professionalism… — Russell L. Ackoff Copy Share
“Reality consists of sets of interacting problems, systems of problems we call “messes.” As previously noted, problems are abstractions extracted from reality by analysis.… — Russell L. Ackoff Copy Share
“Those involved in the redesign process must know what they would do if they could do whatever they wanted. Such knowledge is essential if… — Russell L. Ackoff Copy Share
“Cizek came to Vienna [from Leitmeritz, a small town in Bohemia, then Austrian] when he was twenty [in 1885], and entered the Academy of… — Russell L. Ackoff Copy Share
“One might wonder how on earth learning came to be seen primarily a result of teaching. Until quite recently, the world’s great teachers were… — Russell L. Ackoff Copy Share
The more efficient you are at doing the wrong thing, the wronger you become. It is much better to do the right thing wronger… — Russell L. Ackoff Copy Share
“The educational environment of children should encourage them to continue to explore the open-ended connections between their experiences, and to be receptive to new… — Russell L. Ackoff Copy Share
The lower the rank of managers, the more they know about fewer things. The higher the rank of managers, the less they know about… — Russell L. Ackoff Copy Share
It is the satisfaction we derive from 'going there' in contrast to the satisfaction derived from 'getting there.' Recreation provides 'the pause that refreshes.'… — Russell L. Ackoff Copy Share
