Skip to content

The least obvious part of a system, its function or purpose, is often the most crucial determinant of the system's behavior.

— Donella Meadows Thinking in Systems: A Primer (2008)

Another quote →

More quotes by Donella Meadows

Models can easily become so complex that they are impenetrable, unexaminable, and virtually unalterable.

Meadows (1980)

The bounded rationality of each actor in a system may not lead to decisions that further the welfare of the system as a whole.

Thinking in Systems: A Primer (2008)

If you want to understand the deepest malfunctions of systems, pay attention to the rules and to who has power over them.

Thinking in Systems: A Primer (2008)

Dynamic systems studies usually are not designed to predict what will happen. Rather, they're designed to explore what would happen, if a number of driving factors unfold in a range of different ways.

Thinking in Systems: A Primer (2008)

Calculating how much carbon is absorbed by which forests and farms is a tricky task, especially when politicians do it.

Meadows (2000)

All Donella Meadows quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Donella Meadows (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.