Build a New Model: Quote Attributed to Buckminster Fuller

Today’s Quality Quote is attributed to Buckminster Fuller, although its original source is uncertain: “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”

Related guide: Clause 4.4: map your business like Google Maps, on designing a better process rather than patching the old one.

Undoubtedly the ISO Framework of continual improvement which requires action to be taken to improve the business management system in order to prevent the recurrence of non-conformities is closely related to the intent of Buckinster’s quotation.

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Building a new model that makes the old one obsolete is precisely what is happening in governance right now. ISO 42001 AI management and ISO 27001 information security are the new models Australian businesses are being asked to prove, alongside the established ISO 9001 quality framework.

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More quality quotes

Two consultants reviewing a process diagram on screen in an office

“Give Your People Better Processes and Get Better Performance From Your People”

A lone figure on a dark misty forest path

“A customer left in the dark cannot be seen leaving”

A blue steel water tower against a clear sky

“You can’t change the wind but you can adjust the sails”

A copy of Aristotle’s Metaphysics on a bookshop shelf

Often Credited to Aristotle

Black and white portrait of Mahatma Gandhi

An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind

Black and white photograph of a young bearded man seated beside an apple

Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected. Steve Jobs.

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General guidance only. This article is general information, not legal, financial, safety or compliance advice, and it does not take account of your specific circumstances. Streamline ISO Consultants are ISO management-system consultants, not lawyers or licensed advisers. Standards, laws and regulator guidance change, and details were correct only at the time of writing. Always seek professional advice before acting. See our full Disclaimer.