John W. Snow Quotes

Generally, you cannot solve a problem without defining the problem completely.

How you define a problem shapes how you address it.

the cause must be ascertained, before the remedy is devised.

We cannot solve a problem until we understand the full extent of the problem.

Problems are cured by facing their cause.

The first step to problem solving is figuring out who's got the problem.

Whence it is evident that the remedy must be adapted to the particular cause of the mischief; consequently, the cause must be ascertained, before the remedy is devised.

The best way to solve any problem is to remove its cause.

You cannot solve a problem unless you diagnose the problem.

It took us about a day and a half to find out what had gone wrong.

Don't find fault, find a remedy.

If you are unable to understand the cause of a problem it is impossible to solve it.

Analysis brings no curative powers in its train; it merely makes us conscious of the existence of an evil, which, oddly enough, is consciousness.

I believe that writer's block is a symptom. It's not a disease, it's the symptom of a disease. So what I try to do is kind of do it like 'House'; write down the symptom and write down the other symptoms. Try to work backwards to figure out what the problem is.

To me, error analysis is the sweet spot for improvement.

For me, it's very interesting to take one object and really dissect it to as many layers as possible.

I found a mistake in a rule. They addressed the wrong rule number... I pointed it out, did an amendment, and everybody was happy after that.

Critics have their uses. They can crystallize a moment and bring into sharp relief the mistakes that have been made and what must be done to correct them.

You can’t keep picking up bodies at the foot of the mountain without climbing up there and see why they are falling off.

The more you understand what is wrong with an entity, the more valuable that entity becomes

Ask questions; don't make assumptions.

It's often hard to just throw money at a problem when you don't really know what the problem is.

The answer is always at the site of the problem.

When the inventor of the drawing board messed things up, what did he go back to?

One mend-fault is worth two find-faults, but one find-fault is better than two make-faults.