--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For the problem of decision-making in our…" description: "\"For the problem of decision-making in our complicated world is not how to get the problem simple enough so that we can all understand it; the problem i..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42f/harlan-cleveland-63264_approach_for-the-problem-of-decision-making-in-ou_2491615.png" --- # For the problem of decision-making in our complicated… ![“For the problem of decision-making in our complicated world is not how to get the problem simple enough so that we can all understand it; the problem is how to get our thinking about the problem as complex as humanly possible--and thus approach (we can never match) the complexity of the real world…” quote by Harlan Cleveland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42f/harlan-cleveland-63264_approach_for-the-problem-of-decision-making-in-ou_2491615.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42f/harlan-cleveland-63264_approach_for-the-problem-of-decision-making-in-ou_2491615.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42f/harlan-cleveland-63264_approach_for-the-problem-of-decision-making-in-ou_2491615.png) > “For the problem of decision-making in our complicated world is not how to get the problem simple enough so that we can all understand it; the problem is how to get our thinking about the problem as complex as humanly possible--and thus approach (we can never match) the complexity of the real world around us.” [Harlan Cleveland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harlan-cleveland/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The challenge is not simplifying problems but embracing complex thinking to match real‑world intricacy. **In simple terms:** Think complex, not simple. Key Takeaway Embrace complexity in analysis. Themes decision making complexity analysis Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - policy design - strategic planning - risk assessment - organizational leadership Key Concepts systems thinking cognitive depth real‑world modeling Questions to Reflect On - How can you deepen your analysis? - What complexities are you ignoring? A Different Perspective Simplicity may overlook crucial variables. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Approach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/approach/) [Complexes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complexes/) [Complexity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complexity/) [Complicated world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complicated-world/) [Decision](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decision/) [Decision making](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decision-making/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Problem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problem/) [Real world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-world/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Thinking is the problem. Thinking is hazardous to your progress in life. Don't think - feel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iyanla-vanzant/thinking-is-the-problem-thinking-is-hazardous-to-your-progress-in/) [Iyanla Vanzant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iyanla-vanzant/) > [You can't solve a problem as complex as inequality in one legal clause.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theresa-may/you-can-t-solve-a-problem-as-complex-as-inequality-in-one-legal-clause/) [Theresa May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theresa-may/) > [A favorite means of escaping the solution to any problem is to declare it too complex for solution. This absolves us from attempting solution.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/a-favorite-means-of-escaping-the-solution-to-any-problem-is-to/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [“Spending longer thinking about the problem before you dive in is likely to lead to higher levels of creativity in the final product.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/spending-longer-thinking-about-the-problem-before-you-dive-in-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Thinking is the problem. I'm too aware of what's going on. I don't want to think about the steps it takes to eat while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-llera/thinking-is-the-problem-i-m-too-aware-of-what-s-going-on-i-don-t-want/) Nicole Llera > [It is no good getting furious if you get stuck. What I do is keep thinking about the problem but work on something else.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hawking/it-is-no-good-getting-furious-if-you-get-stuck-what-i-do-is-keep/) [Stephen Hawking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hawking/) > [“Instead of thinking that each problem you face is a tragedy, you can use the creative side of your brain—which is likely to benefit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-surman/instead-of-thinking-that-each-problem-you-face-is-a-tragedy-you-can/) Craig Surman > [“The problem with being me, thought Isabel, as she walked along George IV Bridge, is that I keep thinking about the problem of being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-mccall-smith/the-problem-with-being-me-thought-isabel-as-she-walked-along-george/) [Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mccall-smith/) > [I realized that I spent more time thinking about my problem clients than my great clients. I had to stop feeding the drama of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-st-john/i-realized-that-i-spent-more-time-thinking-about-my-problem-clients/) [Bonnie St. John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-st-john/) > [We are afraid of ideas, of experimenting, of change. We shrink from thinking a problem through to a logical conclusion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-are-afraid-of-ideas-of-experimenting-of-change-we-shrink-from/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Worrying or thinking about your problem won't help you. Instead try to find the solution of the problem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anurag-prakash-ray/worrying-or-thinking-about-your-problem-won-t-help-you-instead-try-to/) [Anurag Prakash Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anurag-prakash-ray/) > [I believe that thinking about the problem … is your problem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-brown/i-believe-that-thinking-about-the-problem-is-your-problem/) [Dan Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-brown/) > [It's not the problem that causes our suffering; it's our thinking about the problem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/byron-katie/it-s-not-the-problem-that-causes-our-suffering-it-s-our-thinking/) [Byron Katie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/byron-katie/) > [Stop thinking too much. .each problem has a positive side](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sniper-alpacino/stop-thinking-too-much-each-problem-has-a-positive-side/) Sniper Alpacino > [Isolating yourself and thinking about your problem will only lead to stress and solve nothing. Rather, focus your attention to things that makes you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rizzi-vicci/isolating-yourself-and-thinking-about-your-problem-will-only-lead-to/) [Rizzi Vicci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rizzi-vicci/) ## More by Harlan Cleveland > [Those with visible responsibility for leadership are nearly always too visible to take responsibility for change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harlan-cleveland/those-with-visible-responsibility-for-leadership-are-nearly-always/) [Harlan Cleveland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harlan-cleveland/) > [Leaders are problem solvers by talent and temperament, and by choice. For them, the new information environment-undermining old means of control, opening up old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harlan-cleveland/leaders-are-problem-solvers-by-talent-and-temperament-and-by-choice/) [Harlan Cleveland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harlan-cleveland/) > [Leaders are problem solvers by talent and temperament, and by choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harlan-cleveland/leaders-are-problem-solvers-by-talent-and-temperament-and-by-choice-2/) [Harlan Cleveland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harlan-cleveland/) > [If you try too carefully to plan your life, the danger is that you will succeed-succeed in narrowing your options, closing off avenues of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harlan-cleveland/if-you-try-too-carefully-to-plan-your-life-the-danger-is-that-you/) [Harlan Cleveland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harlan-cleveland/) [Explore all 5 Harlan Cleveland quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harlan-cleveland/) ## More Approach quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [I'm in a business where there's complete anarchy. You can't control it - you can only react to it. The control that people traditionally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-sorrell/i-m-in-a-business-where-there-s-complete-anarchy-you-can-t-control-it/) [Martin Sorrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-sorrell/) > [When you approach something to photograph it, first be still with yourself until the object of your attention affirms your presence. Then don't leave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/minor-white/when-you-approach-something-to-photograph-it-first-be-still-with/) [Minor White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/minor-white/) > [We do not want to be reminded that it is we, the indigenous people, who are poor and exploited in the land of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-biko/we-do-not-want-to-be-reminded-that-it-is-we-the-indigenous-people-who/) [Steven Biko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-biko/) > [One of the things I regret about not putting in that book or I think it's there but I didn't really elaborate on it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-warner/one-of-the-things-i-regret-about-not-putting-in-that-book-or-i-think/) [Brad Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-warner/) > [Ideal for the child and society in the best of times, Rudolf Steiner's brilliant process of education is critically needed and profoundly relevant now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-chilton-pearce/ideal-for-the-child-and-society-in-the-best-of-times-rudolf-steiner-s/) [Joseph Chilton Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-chilton-pearce/) > [I don't have any particular method, my approach is very simple. I try to understand the emotional graph of the character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pratik-gandhi/i-don-t-have-any-particular-method-my-approach-is-very-simple-i-try/) [Pratik Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pratik-gandhi/) > [“But young men have not only this frivolous ambition of being thought masters of execution, inciting them on the one hand, but also their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/but-young-men-have-not-only-this-frivolous-ambition-of-being-thought/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Everything, every part that you approach has to be somehow rooted in yourself. You have to somehow root everything so that it's not just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judi-dench/everything-every-part-that-you-approach-has-to-be-somehow-rooted-in/) [Judi Dench](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judi-dench/) > [Literature transforms and intensifies ordinary language, deviates systematically from everyday speech. If you approach me at a bus stop and murmur Thou still unravished…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/literature-transforms-and-intensifies-ordinary-language-deviates/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [The whole secret to mastering the game of golf - and this applies to the beginner as well as the pro - is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-palmer/the-whole-secret-to-mastering-the-game-of-golf-and-this-applies-to/) [Arnold Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-palmer/) > [The essence of Christianity...is an ever-new encounter with... the God who speaks to us, who approaches us and who befriends us!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-benedict-xvi/the-essence-of-christianity-is-an-ever-new-encounter-with-the-god-who/) [Pope Benedict XVI](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-benedict-xvi/) > [Like a morning dream, life becomes more and more bright the longer we live, and the reason of everything appears more clear. What has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul/like-a-morning-dream-life-becomes-more-and-more-bright-the-longer-we/) [Jean Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul/) > [What begins as a Utopian vision, always - always - ends in bloodshed. Because you have to force a utopia on a free people.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-gutfeld/what-begins-as-a-utopian-vision-always-always-ends-in-bloodshed/) [Greg Gutfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-gutfeld/) > [The only two good words that can be said for a hurricane are that it gives sufficient warning of its approach, and that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-atherton/the-only-two-good-words-that-can-be-said-for-a-hurricane-are-that-it/) [Gertrude Atherton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-atherton/) [Browse all 3,949 Approach quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/approach/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "For the problem of decision-making in our complicated world is not how to get the problem simple enough so that we can all understand it; the problem is how to get our thinking about the problem as complex as humanly possible--and thus approach (we can never match) the complexity of the real world around us.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Harlan Cleveland" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harlan-cleveland/for-the-problem-of-decision-making-in-our-complicated-world-is-not/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Approach" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harlan-cleveland/for-the-problem-of-decision-making-in-our-complicated-world-is-not/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42f/harlan-cleveland-63264_approach_for-the-problem-of-decision-making-in-ou_2491615.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42f/harlan-cleveland-63264_approach_for-the-problem-of-decision-making-in-ou_2491615.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42f/harlan-cleveland-63264_approach_for-the-problem-of-decision-making-in-ou_2491615.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“For the problem of decision-making in our complicated world is not how to get the problem simple enough so…” — Harlan Cleveland", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Harlan Cleveland", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harlan-cleveland/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "For the problem of decision-making in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harlan-cleveland/for-the-problem-of-decision-making-in-our-complicated-world-is-not/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harlan-cleveland/for-the-problem-of-decision-making-in-our-complicated-world-is-not/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```