Learning about Deming has led me to another incredible thinker - Russell Ackoff. Born in 1919, Ackoff is best known for his contributions to Systems Thinking. In one of his lectures, From Mechanistic to Systemic Thinking, Ackoff discusses systems and the difference between analysis and synthesis. He explains that the essential properties of a system are unique to the system as a whole. These properties arise from the interactions between the parts of the system. In other words, a system is mo...
