We have also come to realize that no problem ever exists in complete isolation. Every problem interacts with aother problems and is, therefore, part of a set of interrelated problems, a system of problems…Furthermore, solutions to most problems produce other problems…English does not contained a suitable word for ’systems of problems’. Therefore, I have had to coin one. I choose to call such a system a ‘mess’.
Russell Ackoff, Redesigning the Future, 1974.
