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Formulating a model of a system should start from the question “Where is the boundary, that encompasses the smallest number of components, within which the dynamic behavior under study is generated?”

— Jay Wright Forrester Principles of Systems (1968)

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More quotes by Jay Wright Forrester

Pestel was a very forceful person and quickly saw the power of system dynamics.

Forrester (1989)

In concept a feedback system is a closed system. Its dynamic behavior arises within its internal structure. Any action which is essential to the behavior of the mode being investigated must be included inside the system boundary.

Principles of Systems (1968)

There will be no drastic revolution in management functions or organizations in order to encompass systems management. Rather, the adaptation of systems management theory to organizations has been and will continue to be an evolutionary process.

Management and Management Science (1959)

No plea about inadequacy of our understanding of the decision-making processes can excuse us from estimating decision making criteria. To omit a decision point is to deny its presence – a mistake of far greater magnitude than any errors in our best estimate of the process.

Forester (2000)

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