Ackoff's F/Laws The Cake

by Russell L. Ackoff

This is the first full collection of all 122 of Russell Ackoff's f/laws - previously only available in two separate books from Triarchy Press (Management f-Laws and Systems Thinking for Curious Managers.) Each f/law in this full collection is accompanied by Ackoff's own witty and acerbic explanatory text and (in the printed edition) by his original drawings and cartoons. The collection reverts to Ackoff's original typescript without any commentary or other introduction. As Ackoff himself "Over time I have become aware of some very important truths about the practice of management. These truths, which I call the 'F/laws of Management, ' contradict assumptions that are commonly held by managers. These simple management truths are much more important than the fundamental, but complex, truths revealed by scientists, economists, politicians, or philosophers. The truths these wise thinkers reveal are at most frosting on the cake. The truths presented here are the cake." This definitive collection distils Ackoff's wisdom and a lifetime of experience about management, leadership, innovation, teamwork and organizations. It should be required reading for anyone who works in an organization.

154 pages, Hardcover

First published November 30, 2011

About the author

Russell Lincoln Ackoff was Anheuser Busch Professor Emeritus of management science at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. Professor Ackoff was an American organizational theorist and consultant, and a pioneer in the fields of operations research and management science.

Reviews

[Gijs Limonard · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5 stars; 122 aphorisms on the absurd realities of management; eerily recognizable; a few highlights:
- The higher the rank of managers, the less is the distance between their offices and their restrooms.
- Overt moralists greatly resent the fun others have from behaving immorally. Perhaps the reason they do not practice the morality they preach is that they do not know how to have fun morally.
- Overheads, slides and PowerPoint projectors are not visual aids to managers. They transform managers into auditory aids to the visuals.
- Science pursues data, information, knowledge, and understanding: what is truth; but the humanities pursue wisdom: what is right.

[Jack Vinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of fun, curmudgeonly commentary.