http://www.systems-thinking.org/columbo/columbo.htm

Complex System Rules of Thumb

• Everything is connected to everything else.
• You can never do just one thing.
• There is no "away."
• There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.
• Nature knows best.
• If ain't what you don't know that hurts you; it's what you DO know that ain't so.
• "Obvious solutions" do more harm than good.
• Look for high leverage points.
• Nothing grows forever.
• Don't fight positive feedback; support negative feedback instead.
• Don't try to control the players, just change the rules.
• Don't make rules that can't be enforced.
• There are no simple solutions.
• Good intentions are not enough.
• High morality depends on accurate prophecy.
• If you can't make people self-sufficient, your aid does more harm than good.
• There are no final answers.
• Every solution creates new problems.
• Loose systems are often better.
• Don't be fooled by system cycles.
• Remember the Golden Mean.
• Beware the empty compromise.
• Don't be a boiled frog.
• Watch our for thresholds.
• Competition is often cooperation in disguise.
• Bad boundaries make bad governments.
• Beware the Tragedy of the Commons.
• Foresight always wins in the long run.

Nancy Lebovitz, those are great. I may have to appropriate some of those.