When I started out, I believed that there were very distinct systems paradigms, and there was a need to choose and defend yours against other people's paradigms. Today I prefer to see a systems perspective as something that you develop over a lifetime. It's like building a house that evolves: you can redecorate it, even build an extension.

Midgley (2012) Interview with systems thinker Gerald Midgley, March 5, 2012.