Appropriate Quote by Edward De Bono

““If you understand the system you can design appropriate action.””

Edward De Bono

About This Quote

Source Book: Six Thinking Hats, 1985

Understanding a system enables you to create effective, tailored responses.

In simple terms: Know the system, act wisely.

Key Takeaway

Study systems before acting.

Themes

strategy systems problem solving

Mood

analytical pragmatic

Type

instructional insightful

When to use this quote

business planning
policy making
software development
education

Key Concepts

systems thinking design thinking

Questions to Reflect On

What system do you need to understand better?
How can you test your designed actions?

A Different Perspective

Complex systems may resist simple designs.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 2.2 out of 5 (9 ratings)

More by Edward De Bono

We still seek to solve conflicts with 'judgement' instead of designing the way forwards.

Edward de Bono

Image

Traditional thinking is all about "what is" Future thinking will also need to be about what can be.

Edward de Bono

Image

“In 80% of Socrates' dialogues there was no constructive outcome. He saw his role as simply pointing out what was "wrong.”

Edward De Bono

Image

The music that really turns me on is either running toward God or away from God. Both recognize the pivot, that God is at…

Edward de Bono

Image

People should realize we're jerks just like them.

Edward de Bono

Image

The effective thinker treats arrogance as the major sin of thinking.

Edward de Bono

Image

To be successful you have to be lucky, or a little mad, or very talented, or find yourself in a rapid growth field.

Edward de Bono

Image

Argument is meant to reveal the truth, not to create it.

Edward de Bono

Image

Complexity creates confusion, simplicity focus.

Edward de Bono

Image

The weapons of the positive revolution are not bullets and bombs but simple human perceptions. Bullets and bombs may offer physical power but eventually…

Edward de Bono

Image

“In real-life situations apparently logical lines of argument are often (not always) based on an inability to see alternative possibilities. In a similar way…

Edward De Bono

Image

An expert is someone who has succeeded in making decisions and judgements simpler through knowing what to pay attention to and what to ignore.

Edward De Bono

Image

Explore all 161 Edward De Bono quotes

More Appropriate quotes

“Appropriate is overrated.”

Steven W. Kohlhagen

Image

I was for many years myself a journalist and it is not appropriate to say a programme should not be broadcast.

Christopher Monckton

Image

I don't think 'This Means War' is an appropriate picture to do in 3-D.

McG

Image

There is no single best kind of death. A good death is one that is "appropriate" for that person. It is a death in…

Edwin S. Shneidman

Image

Persons who have cleansed themselves of any transgression and who have shown their ability to deal with homosexual inclinations and put them in the…

Dallin H. Oaks

Image

[T]he appropriate form of address between man and man ought to be, not monsieur, sir, but fellow sufferer, compagnon de miseres.

Arthur Schopenhauer

Image

I would not, under any circumstances, try to impose my personal faith and belief on the rest of the country. I don't think that's…

John Edwards

Image

I have no policy, for or against: only a personal style. Which is to say, I use them when I think it's appropriate to;…

Charles Stross

Image

While the intelligence profession oftentimes demands secrecy, it is critically important that there be a full and open discourse on intelligence matters with the…

John O. Brennan

Image

Computer Science is a science of abstraction -creating the right model for a problem and devising the appropriate mechanizable techniques to solve it.

Alfred Aho