“As usual, the lack of a well-honed proverb to cover the situation reveals a blind spot in the popular culture, and this in turn is probably the reason why so few of us actively practice Problem Avoidance.”
— John Gall, The Systems Bible (The 3rd edition of Systemantics), 2002
‘An Airplane has been defined as a collection of parts having an inherent tendency to fall to earth, and requiring constant effort and supervision to stave off that outcome. The System called "airplane" may have been designed to fly, but the parts don't share that tendency. In fact, they share the opposite tendency. And the System will fly—if at all—only as a System.’
— John Gall, The Systems Bible
‘The word "Solution" is only a fancy term for the Response of System "A" (ourselves) to System "B" (the Problem). And it's a misleading word, because it implies something that can be done once and for all. But System "B" is sure to Kick Back in response to our Response, and then we must respond once again.’
— John Gall, Systems Bible
“Systems are seductive. They promise to do a hard job faster, better, and more easily than you could do it by yourself. But if you set up a system, you are likely to find your time and effort now being consumed in the care and feeding of the system itself." — John Gall
A nice summary of:
“Lessons from John Gall”
here:
@RuthMalan Reminds me of this quote from Marion Zimmer Bradley: “If you own a machine, you are in turn owned by it and spend your time serving it.”
I don't remember where it's from, exactly; I printed it out as a teenager and it has been with me ever since.
This has held true in my limited personal experience.
The work always moves to caring for the "thing" doing the "work".
Ruth — of systems & design
Steve Meyer
Bill Mill
Sebastian Hans
May Likes Toronto
Matt Hall
Owl Eyes
GregVR