Quotes in systems thinking

Nothing can do you so much harm as a lousy competitor. Be thankful for a good competitor.

More quotes by   Alfred Politz view quote details

Profit in business comes from repeat customers, customers that boast about your product and service, and that bring friends with them.


Good design can't fix broken business models.

More quotes by   Jeffrey Veen view quote details

One gets a good rating for fighting a fire. The result is visible; can be quantified. If you do it right the first time, you are invisible. You satisfied the requirements. That is your job. Mess it up, and correct it later, you become a hero.


I should estimate that in my experience most troubles and most possibilities for improvement add up to the proportions something like this:
94% belongs to the system (responsibility of management)
6% special


The greatest waste in America is failure to use the abilities of people.


Putting out fires is not improvement of the process. Neither is discovery and removal of a special cause detected by a point out of control. This only puts the process back to where it should have been in the first place.


American management thinks that they can just copy from Japan—but they don’t know what to copy!


The idea of a merit rating is alluring. The sound of the words captivates the imagination: pay for what you get; get what you pay for; motivate people to do their best, for their own good.

The effect is exactly the opposite of what the words promise. Everyone propels himself forward, or tries to, for his own good, on his own life preserver. The organization is the loser.

The merit rating rewards people that conform to the system. It does not reward attempts to improve the system. Don’t rock the boat.


blame the process not the person. We need to ask, "how did the process allow this to happen?"

More quotes by   Brian Joiner view quote details