Top 15 John Gall Quotes

American physician

John Gall (September 18, 1925 - December 15, 2014) was an American pediatrician, known for his 1975 book General systemantics.

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Similar: Donella Meadows 46.3% Derek Hitchins 41.5% Russell L. Ackoff 39.8% C. West Churchman 39.3% Arthur David Hall III 39.0% Gerald Weinberg 38.2% Ervin László 37.7% Walter F. Buckley 37.1% Robert E. Machol 36.8% Fred Brooks 36.1%

A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that works. The inverse proposition also appears to be true: A complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be made to work.

GREAT ADVANCES DO NOT COME OUT OF SYSTEMS DESIGNED TO PRODUCE GREAT ADVANCES.

JUST CALLING IT “FEEDBACK” DOESN’T MEAN THAT IT HAS ACTUALLY FED BACK To speak precisely: IT HASN’T FED BACK UNTIL THE SYSTEM CHANGES COURSE Up to that point, it’s merely Sensory Input.

The First Law of Systems-Survival: A SYSTEM THAT IGNORES FEEDBACK HAS ALREADY BEGUN THE PROCESS OF TERMINAL INSTABILITY.

Inaccessibility Theorem: THE INFORMATION YOU HAVE IS NOT THE INFORMATION YOU WANT. THE INFORMATION YOU WANT IS NOT THE INFORMATION YOU NEED. THE INFORMATION YOU NEED IS NOT THE INFORMATION YOU CAN OBTAIN.

M. Gandhi is reported to have said: “There go my people. I must find out where they are going, so I can lead them.”[a.]

A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked. A complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be patched up to make it work. You have to start over with a working simple system

AS SYSTEMS GROW IN SIZE AND COMPLEXITY, THEY TEND TO LOSE BASIC FUNCTIONS

IN ORDER TO REMAIN UNCHANGED, THE SYSTEM MUST CHANGE Specifically,

SYSTEMS TEND TO MALFUNCTION CONSPICUOUSLY JUST AFTER THEIR GREATEST TRIUMPH.

IF A SYSTEM CAN BE EXPLOITED, IT WILL BE. ANY SYSTEM CAN BE EXPLOITED. CHAPTER

The reader is invited to ask him-or herself, Is it possible that I am seeing the world from inside a System? Am I, unbeknownst to myself, a Systems-person? The answer is always, Yes. The relevant question is, simply, Which System?

success is largely a matter of Avoiding the Most Likely Ways to Fail[d. ], and since every Bug advances us significantly along that path, we may hearken back to the advice given in the Preface and urge the following Policy: CHERISH YOUR BUGS. STUDY THEM But

WHEN BIG SYSTEMS FAIL, THE FAILURE IS OFTEN BIG

May God us keep From simple vision and Newton’s sleep. — William Blake[xxvii]

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