Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
Fuller suggests change comes from building new models rather than fighting existing ones.
In plain terms
To change something, build a better model that replaces the old one.
What can you take from it?
Focus on creating better alternatives rather than fighting old ones.

Where it applies

  • business strategy
  • social reform
  • product design

Putting it to work

  • prototype new solutions
  • replace old systems
  • avoid direct conflict

Questions to consider

  • What new model could make a problem obsolete?
  • When is fighting better than building?

Another view

Sometimes direct opposition is necessary to dismantle harmful systems.

More from Buckminster Fuller

  1. You either make sense or you make money.

    Permalink to quote #101

  2. Less is more.

    Permalink to quote #103

  3. When I am working on a problem I never think about beauty. I only think about how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beauti…

    Permalink to quote #100

Related quotes

  1. All economic activity is by definition 'high risk.' And defending yesterday--that is, not innovating--is far more risky than making tomorrow. -- Innovations an…

    Peter F. DruckerPeter F. Drucker quote #26

  2. Disneyland is something that will never be finished. It's something that I can keep developing. It will be a live, breathing thing that will need change. A pic…

    Walt DisneyWalt Disney quote #31

  3. In this volatile business of ours, we can ill afford to rest on our laurels, even to pause in retrospect. Times and conditions change so rapidly that we must k…

    Walt DisneyWalt Disney quote #114