Russell L. Ackoff

Creativity is the ability to identify self-imposed constraints, remove them, and explore the consequences of their removal.

— Russell L. Ackoff

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

— Russell L. Ackoff

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

— Russell L. Ackoff

A problem never exists in isolation; it is surrounded by other problems in space and time. The more of the context of…

— Russell L. Ackoff

“Contrary to the impression that the educational system promulgates, there are no absolute answers to questions; the correct answer to a question…

— Russell L. Ackoff

Most corporate mission statements are worthless. They consist largely of pious platitudes such as: "We will hold ourselves to the highest standards…

— Russell L. Ackoff

“Reality consists of sets of interacting problems, systems of problems we call “messes.” As previously noted, problems are abstractions extracted from reality…

— Russell L. Ackoff

“Those involved in the redesign process must know what they would do if they could do whatever they wanted. Such knowledge is…

— Russell L. Ackoff

“Cizek came to Vienna [from Leitmeritz, a small town in Bohemia, then Austrian] when he was twenty [in 1885], and entered the…

— Russell L. Ackoff

The future is better dealt with using assumptions than forecasts.

— Russell L. Ackoff

“One might wonder how on earth learning came to be seen primarily a result of teaching. Until quite recently, the world’s great…

— Russell L. Ackoff

The more efficient you are at doing the wrong thing, the wronger you become. It is much better to do the right…

— Russell L. Ackoff

“The educational environment of children should encourage them to continue to explore the open-ended connections between their experiences, and to be receptive…

— Russell L. Ackoff

The lower the rank of managers, the more they know about fewer things. The higher the rank of managers, the less they…

— Russell L. Ackoff

It is the satisfaction we derive from 'going there' in contrast to the satisfaction derived from 'getting there.' Recreation provides 'the pause…

— Russell L. Ackoff

Omnicompetence,' the ability to obtain whatever one wants or needs, is an unattainable but continuously approachable ideal for all mankind - past,…

— Russell L. Ackoff

“anyone who observes children closely soon comes to the conclusion that they cannot grow up and master the world quickly enough. Nature…

— Russell L. Ackoff

To manage a system effectively, you might focus on the interactions of the parts rather than their behavior taken separately.

— Russell L. Ackoff

The objective of education is learning, not teaching

— Russell L. Ackoff

“Today, there are two worlds that use the word education with opposite meanings: One world consists of the schools and colleges (and…

— Russell L. Ackoff

Traditional education focuses on teaching, not learning. It incorrectly assumes that for every ounce of teaching there is an ounce of learning…

— Russell L. Ackoff

For me there has never been an amount of money that makes it worth doing something that is not fun.

— Russell L. Ackoff

“Cizek had used art as the point of entry of his thinking into a whole new world of education—an avenue that had…

— Russell L. Ackoff

“This was true of any and every aspect of knowledge; you figured out how to learn it, and you exposed yourself to…

— Russell L. Ackoff

Nothing is harder to topple than a fact that supports a deeply held prejudice denied by its holder.

— Russell L. Ackoff