Now that we have some context for the situation it's appropriate to begin to investigate, though possibly not where you might think. And the investigation is actually a bit hindered because management fired the accounts receivables department. What I'm really interested in is trends as to how things have evolved over time.

You've probably heard the comment "It's the economy stupid!" Well I've finally concluded that when it comes to the economy "It's stupidity stupid!" might be a more appropriate phrase.

The Sensitivity Analysis option allows you to develop a sense of the extent to which some part of the model is affected by changes in some other part of the model. I think you'll find the approach to implementing Sensitivity Analysis rather straightforward and powerful at the same time.

Faced with a performance gap the two most obvious responses are to work harder or work smarter. There are trade offs associated with each, some obvious, some not so obvious.

Derived from Nobody Ever Gets Credit for Fixing Problems that Never Happened: Creating and Sustaining Process Improvement by Repenning and Sterman.

@LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube

At this stage it is essential to understand and admit that the task at hand completely overwhelms the current methods. The way forward lies in realizing the essential nature of collaboration and the need for an integrated tool set to support collaboration. Even with that as the realization, current understanding indicates that the integrated tool set necessary to support the needed collaboration simply does not exist. And, not only does it not exist, it is most likely beyond the resources of any one vendor to provide it if they wished. So what are the options?

Realizing that virtual collaboration is the avenue of resort and that the Internet is pervasive, the old tools and processes are highly unlikely to support the new speed of collaboration. The old tools are those such as word processor, drawing, presentation, spreadsheet, modeling and simulation which are confined to the computer on your desk and require that once you develop something you have few options available for sharing.

We are embedded in a larger system and unless we realize it an act accordingly we are likely to be the victim of it. From Introduction to System Dynamics: Overview by John Sterman

Discussion groups, or bulletin boards if you prefer, come in numerous forms though for all their forms they are all pretty much the same. And, if you've found your way here then you probably belong to one or more of them.

OK, we have a problem. Yet, do we really know what the problem is? More often than not we look at the symptoms, consider them the problem and attempt to fix them. This actually dooms us to failure because they're only symptoms.

How we know what we know.

The city of Bergen has a goal of becoming fossil-free in 2030. How do we get there? Some weeks ago, local experts from different domains came together and developed a causal loop diagram (CLD). This will form the skeleton for the modelling hackathon.

The calorie reduction model elaborated to include exercise calories.

@LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube

This model was simply to depict the various function groups on the Make an Insight screen.

@LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube

While understanding the interacting components responsible for the situation is important it is even more important to understand the stakeholders as they are the ones responsible for the interacting components being the way they are.

A random walk demonstration using an ABM. As individuals drink more they become more intoxicated and their walk becomes more random. And when they drink to much it finally kills them.

Use a savings account model to investigate the manner in which inflows and outflows govern the quantity of a stock. Extend the structure to create and investigate the relationships of a growth producing reinforcing loop.

@LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube

A simplification of the systems approach to deal with a situation.

@LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube

The following model was submitted by Lise Inman & Keith Margerison for inclusion in the ILE currently under development. I think it's a useful model which gets interesting as the arrival interval gets smaller and the queue backs up. So, what do you think of the model and what insights can we surface with this model?

This model was started at the STIA+ Conference in Seattle on April 18th by Rebecca Niles of Leverage Networks for discussion at her Open Space session. The intent is to continue that open space here in a virtual context.

Network Magic's rapid growth creates a growing demand for resources. And the more they satisfy their customers the more difficult the problem becomes.

Video

Based on 1990 SDR Article. Control systems act to make their own input match internal standards or reference signals. Competent control systems create illusions of stimulus response causality. Stimulus-response theory can approximate the relationship between disturbance and action, but it can't predict the consequences of behavior. These consequences are maintained despite disturbances.

Influences which work in opposition to sustainable capitalism and influences that might work to further promote it.

This is just a sample to use for embedding an insight.

@LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube