Ackoff's F/laws: The Cake

Russell Ackoff was a rare management thinker, often ranked with Peter Drucker, Peter Senge and Charles Handy amongst the world's most influential business thinkers. He was Anheuser-Busch Emeritus Professor of Management Science at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and a much-loved educator, writer and speaker. But he was also known as an architect and town planner, as the father of modern Systems Thinking and Idealized Design, as a trailblazer in the fields of organizational and operations theory, bestselling author, distinguished Wharton School professor, and as a consultant. A founding member of the Institute of Management Sciences, his work in consulting and education involved more than 350 corporations and 75 government agencies in the USA and beyond.

From reviews of previous books by Russ Ackoff that included his f/laws; "This book is fun - not something one can often say about a management book. It's also a compact piece of distilled wisdom. - Take each f/law in turn and ask how it applies to you, to your role in the organisation and the organisation as a whole. Do it seriously and you might learn a lot." Charles Handy ~ Management Today; " - you are in the presence of one of the profoundest and wittiest brains ever to engage with the bizarre human activity called management." Simon Caulkin ~ The Observer ;" - an instructive gem that should be required reading for anyone interested in effective management." Prof. Sheldon Rovin ~ Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania ;"If you ever need a reality check after stumbling out of some appalling management meeting, or just need cheering up on a long business trip, this is the book for you. Just about every myth or pompous delusion about management gets punctured - " Stefan Stern ~ Financial Times ;" - profound thoughts in digestible bites... easy to read yet full of wisdom. How much better our organizations would be if managers could learn these lessons!" Prof. Michael C Jackson ~ Hull University Business School. ;"Wit and wisdom in small doses on the deep rooted abuse of hierarchical power. It takes a Russ Ackoff to unveil myths and illusions of this kind." Goran Carstedt ~ Formerly President, Volvo Cars and Ikea Europe