In Memoriam: Russell Ackoff
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The New York Times obituaries for the last couple of weeks included Elmer Winter (Co-Founder of Manpower Temp Agency), John O’Quinn (Personal-Injury Lawyer), and Don Ivan Punchatz (Fantasy Illustrator), among other notables. There was no obit for Russell Ackoff who died on October 29, 2009, at the age of 90.
You might think that's because Ackoff was a business thinker and not based in New York. But there was no obituary in the Wall Street Journal either. Fortune and Business Week didn't think that Ackoff's passing was significant enough to warrant notice.
For me this is one more bit of proof that, with a few notable exceptions, business journalism is mostly done by journalists who know nothing and care little about business and those who think the stock market and celebrity CEOs are the only subjects worth covering.
Russell Ackoff was one of the greatest of management thinkers. He wrote 31 books including both seminal texts on systems thinking and slim volumes on problem solving and management common sense. And yet his passing could not find space in "business" publications that feature stories on "Subway's $5 Footlong" and "Celebrities Favorite iPhone Apps."
The only business publication that mentioned the event and celebrated Ackoff's life and contributions was the Economist. Here's a pointer to their article in praise of Russell Ackoff, since I can't improve on their coverage. And, here's the opening paragraph.
"IT IS hard to imagine a less enticing title for a book than “Introduction to Operations Research”. Yet Russ Ackoff, one of the authors of this tome of 1959, who died on October 29th aged 90, did not just help to define a nascent branch of industrial engineering. He wrote 30 other books, becoming one of the most influential management gurus of the 20th century in the process. His ideas about systemic thinking are vitally important today if the world is to come out of the current economic crisis in better shape than it went into it."
Ackoff was a writer who got me thinking and got me thinking in new ways. His book, The Art of Problem Solving is my nominee for the best book on the subject. I keep it on the shelf near my desk and I still refer to it frequently after thirty years.
Ackoff was one of the best writers ever at mixing solid theoretical thinking with straightforward common sense. Here are a few of my favorite Russell Ackoff quotes.
"It is apparent that what we want, our ends, influences our choice of means. Not so apparent is the fact the available means influence our choice of ends."
"Irrationality is usually in the mind of the beholder, not in the mind of the beheld."
"Every gain of control over others is a potential loss of control over oneself."
"An internal conflict cannot be resolved by imposing it on others."
"Care is often the most effective cure."
"It is easy to blame others for our own mistakes, but hard to correct them by doing so."
"Many a hot idea gets the cold shoulder."
"The easiest way to do something is often learned the hard way."
"Managers who can't measure what they want, frequently settle for wanting what they can measure."
"It is better to use imprecise measures of what is wanted, rather than precise measures of what is not."
"It is often better to do things for oneself, no matter how badly, than to have them done by others, no matter how well."
Boss's Bottom Line
The most helpful management thinkers are those who understand what works, why it works, and how to explain it. The same is true for the best managers.
Categories: Gurus,Problem Solving,Books,Leadership,Management
Tags: Problem Solving Management Leadership
Great quotes from obviously a great thinker. Thanks for sharing.
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Thanks for stopping by. Ackoff was a great thinker and a great writer. The result is lots of quotable advice.
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Wally,
Thanks for taking time to highlight Ackoff's contributions and note his passing. I hadn't seen anything mentioned either. That is, indeed, a continuing sad statement on the state of mainstream "journalism" with 15 minutes of celebrity trumping 90 years of meaningful contribution.
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It is sad, Steve. I'm not sure how we will get quality coverage of business and management when there don't seem to be new journalists learning the trade.
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So glad you did this Wally. Ackoff was indeed an amazing management thinker. One of the premier systems thinkers around. But his stuff required real thought which is probably why it never made the big time. Those that know systems know Ackoff. Thanks, Wally! Bret
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Thanks for adding your voice, Bret. And you're right about how his work required some thought to understand and apply, but you reminded me that one of the things that's always stuck out about him was the sheer clarity of his explanations. Whether it was in that textbook on operations research that I used in college or in the problem solving book, you could understand him. In that, he reminds me of the physicist Richard Feynman who was noted for the clarity of his lectures as well as the astounding reach of his intellect.
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Hi, Wally. Thanks for your words about Russ. A few facts...Recognized internationally as a pragmatic academic, Russell Ackoff devoted most of his professional life to “dissolving” complex societal and organizational problems by engaging all stakeholders in the design of an “idealized” solution. Born in Philadelphia to Jack and Fannie (Weitz) Ackoff, he completed undergraduate studies in Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania in 1941. From 1942 to 1946 he served in the U.S. Army, stationed in the Philippines. Upon returning from the war, he obtained a doctorate in the Philosophy of Science from Penn, where he met and married Alexandra Makar.
Dr. Ackoff remained intellectually and professionally active until shortly before his death. As a Professor Emeritus of the Wharton School and Visiting Professor of Marketing at Washington University in St. Louis, he continued to be a sought after speaker and lecturer to corporations and governments. In recent years, he co-founded Adopt-A-Neighborhood for Development, Inc., an organization dedicated to encouraging and facilitating self development programs in disadvantaged communities. He maintained a rigorous lecture schedule in executive education programs around the world. A prolific writer throughout his lifetime, he produced a long list of books and publications, including Introduction to Operations Research, The Art of Problem Solving, Creating the Corporate Future, and Management in Small Doses. His books are read around the world and several have been translated into 15 or more languages.
Over his years of teaching, traveling and lecturing he acquired a fiercely loyal following of students, colleagues and clients. Resisting always the moniker of “guru” so often applied to him in the popular business press, he once said “I am not a guru...gurus encourage followers who do things their way. I am an educator...I encourage others to go out and adapt these ideas...to do whatever is going to be the most effective solution for them.”
Dr. Ackoff is survived by his wife of 22 years, Helen Wald Ackoff, three children from his first marriage, Alan Ackoff, Karen Ackoff, and Karla Ackoff Kachbalian; his stepson, Richard Wald, and grand-dogs Zabi, Tickle, and Weema. He passed away on October 29, 2009, due to complications following hip replacement surgery.
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Wow, Susan, thanks so much for sharing that with my readers. You've added amazing richness to the post.
My favorite part of your post is the quote the defines the difference between gurus and educators: “I am not a guru...gurus encourage followers who do things their way. I am an educator...I encourage others to go out and adapt these ideas...to do whatever is going to be the most effective solution for them.”
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You are quite welcome, Wally. You and your readers may also be interested to know that there will be a memorial in honor of Russ at Penn on Feb 12, 2010. Details to be found here:
http://www.organizationaldynamics.upenn.edu/od.cgi/ackofflibrary7.html
Another site for those interested in RLA is this one:
http://ackoffcenter.blogs.com/
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Susan was kind enough to send an email with a pointer to the Ackoff Center Blog post where she and others have posted remembrances of Russell Ackoff. Thank you, Susan.
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You are exactly right. Ackoff was one of the most important management minds of the last century. His ideas are ready to be used by managers to achieve great benefits to their organization (because so many of his ideas have been ignored).
It it too bad we haven't been using more of his ideas but it is nice to know all managers need to do to greatly improve is read books by known experts and adopt some of the ideas in their own organizations. We don't need to wait for new ideas, there are plenty of perfectly good idea we have been ignoring for decades.
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Thanks for adding that great comment, John. You're right. What you said reminded me of my father. He was a preacher and he used to joke that he would preach the same sermon every Sunday until the congregation got it right. There are lots of good ideas out there, Ackoff's among them. They're still good and usable and powerful and that doesn't diminish just because they've been around a while.
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Agreed, Wally (and prior commentors). FT's Stefan Stern had this blog post (http://blogs.ft.com/management/2009/11/02/russell-l-ackoff-1919-2009/) on Ackoff, including this recent comment of his:
“All of our [social] problems arise out of doing the wrong thing righter,” he told me. “The more efficient you are at doing the wrong thing, the wronger you become. It is much better to do the right thing wronger than the wrong thing righter! If you do the right thing wrong and correct it, you get better.”
I will be keeping an eye on Stefan's column for his promised tribute. I thought you and your readers might like to as well.
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Thanks, Derek. I always appreciate your additions and I think others will want to follow the link.
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Wally, here's the link to Stefan's promised tribute on FT to Ackoff: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0168c7de-cd7e-11de-8162-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=2
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Thanks for sharing and helping us remember such an influential business educator.
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You're welcome, John. Russell Ackoff was a powerful influence on me and on many others. That should be remembered.
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