Ventana software support forum

Posted by Stephen Wehrenberg <stephen.wehrenberg@verizon.net> Back in the olden days, I used a software program called Facilitation Graphics for Systems Thinking, marketed by MicroWorlds (aka GKA?). It ran as an add-in to an ancient version of Visio, pre Micro$oft acquiring it. It was a nicely integ...

Posted by Stephen Wehrenberg <stephen.wehrenberg@verizon.net> Jack, Jay, I submit that there are subtle differences in the way you are referring to causes. Jay implies in his statement that population and industrial growth are the causes of the environmental pickle we find ourselves in. I'd just say...

Posted by Stephen Wehrenberg <stephen.wehrenberg@verizon.net> Jaideep certainly raises issues that further illustrate the complexity of the problem. I am not suggesting (necessarily) a technical model that finds the technical solution, e.g., reduction of driving miles and increasing auto efficiency ...

Posted by Stephen Wehrenberg <stephen.wehrenberg@verizon.net> As many on the list know, I'm not really a modeler, but a dabbler. However, I am an SD groupie, advocate, and cheerleader -- and I mention this just in case my next question sounds dumb. Has anyone modeled Lester Brown's solutions to the ...

Posted by Stephen Wehrenberg <stephen.wehrenberg@verizon.net> Aldo's list below is a good start toward identifying the criteria that would allow for a celebration of the process of SD modeling, but I got the impression from Kim's post that he was trying to generate the list of successful uses of SD ...

Posted by Stephen Wehrenberg <stephen.wehrenberg@verizon.net> Alan, Wouldn't your proscription depend on the purpose of the model? If the purpose is to attempt to predict, soft variables would create the problems you assert. But if the purpose of the model is otherwise, perhaps not. I have used SD m...

Posted by Stephen Wehrenberg <stephen.wehrenberg@verizon.net> Jean-Jacques, That's exactly the kind of thing I was talking about in my original post on the topic ... more collaborative workspaces and not necessarily for expert modelers, but for people who don't know anything about SD but do understa...

Posted by Stephen Wehrenberg <stephen.wehrenberg@verizon.net> Like Jac Vennix, I've come to believe that the real power in SD modeling lies not in the models but in the group model building process. No one learns as much about the system or problem being examined as those who participate directly in...