One important idea is that science is a means whereby learning is achieved, not by mere theoretical speculation on the one hand, nor by the undirected accumulation of practical facts on the other, but rather by a motivated iteration between… — 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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
Statisticians, like artists, have the bad habit of falling in love with their models. — George E. P. Box Copy Share Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
The business of the statistician is to catalyze the scientific learning process. — George E. P. Box Copy Share Image
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 Image
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 Image
Discovering the unexpected is more important than confirming the known. — George E. P. Box Copy Share Image
