“Analysis of a system reveals its structure and how it works. It provides the knowledge required to make it work efficiently and to repair it when it stops working. Its product is know-how, knowledge, not understanding. To enable a system to perform effectively we must understand it—we must be able to explain its behavior—and this requires being aware of its functions in the larger systems of which it is a part.”

—  Russell L. Ackoff

Source: 1990s, Re-Creating the Corporation (1999), p. 12.

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Russell L. Ackoff photo
Russell L. Ackoff 70
Scientist 1919–2009

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