Skip to the essays
All essays

How about the mistakes we did by not doing anything?

I’m sure there are many good quotes from Russel Ackoff. Here’s one that makes my day, I see this happening all the time! “Schools and other organizations use accounting systems that only record one type of mistakes. If you do something you should not have done you pay the price, but not when you don’t …

I’m sure there are many good quotes from Russel Ackoff. Here’s one that makes my day, I see this happening all the time!

“Schools and other organizations use accounting systems that only record one type of mistakes. If you do something you should not have done you pay the price, but not when you don’t do anything.
Now look at the situation most of us are in: working for an organization that says that making a mistake is a bad thing. But only one kind of mistake can be caught: doing something that you should not have done. Now, if you want to maximize your security in that context what’s your best strategy? Don’t do anything!!”

— Paraphrased from the video, emphasis added.

Starts at 8:55 until the end of the video.

Keep the conversation going

The essays work best in company. Join the community to keep the questions coming.

The #NoEstimates book and its companion volumes

Chapter 1 · Free PDF

What if better planning started with a different question?

The first chapter of #NoEstimates argues that the “deliver on time” challenge is answered by a different question. Read it, and see whether it changes how you plan the next piece of work.

Free PDF of chapter 1. No purchase, no library access. How we handle your details