Response to Bill Brauns original question and the excellent answer
provided by Jim Hines.
>Concerning books: Your choice of Principles of Systems is very good.
>Of the other books you mentioned, I would pick out the Richards and Pugh
>Intro to SD Modeling with DYNAMO. The book is exceptionally well
>written and provides a well-structured, broad grounding in system
>dynamics from the philosophical foundations to causal loop diagramming
>to modeling. The one drawback to the book is that it uses DYNAMO, the
>original system dynamics environment. This means you will need to
>translate into the environment you are using (Powersim, I believe you
>said). That may be a pain, but is hardly insurmountable -- the
>equations that you write in Powersim will be mostly the same as those
>given for DYNAMO.
We use the Richardson and Pugh book as the prescribed text for our
advanced course. There has not been any real drawback as both the
Powersim Reference Manual and the Help screen in Powersim Constructor
provide assistance in converting Dynamo equations to Powersim equations.
Be aware of our bias - in addition to our other activities, we are a UK
Powersim distributor.
Tony Gill phone: +44 (0)1295 812262
Phrontis Limited
Beacon House fax: +44 (0)1295 812511
Horn Hill Road
Adderbury email: TonyGill@phrontis.com
Banbury
OXON. OX17 3EU URL: http://www.phrontis.com/
U.K.
SD Self-Study Curriculum
-
fabiansz@consultant.com
- Junior Member
- Posts: 7
- Joined: Fri Mar 29, 2002 3:39 am
SD Self-Study Curriculum
Dear Colleagues,
I would add to the resource list that is being defined the last book by Prof. G. Coyle.
Mirroring part of what was included in the bibliography and reading list of the Master Program in SD in the University of Bergen:
Id also add some papers, such as Prof. John Stermans Skeptic guide to computer models, which gives SD its proper place as a tool for being used for the right type of problem; and other classic SD papers, many of them in the Road Maps series.
Id also include classic SD models, such as Prof Forresters Market Growth..., Prof Dennis Meadows Commodity cycle (hog production) model, the Keibab Plateau model and others that the colleagues would consider useful.
And Id try to include some experiential learning, using diverse resources, such as the Beer Game, the People Express Management Flight Simulator, and may be some simple introductory games which could be extracted from the Systems Thinking Playbook.
Did anybody mention the Introduction to Systems Thinking manual that comes with the software ithink ? Its very good.
And the list goes on...
Fortunately learning never ends.
Be well...
Fabian Szulanski
From: fabiansz@consultant.com
I would add to the resource list that is being defined the last book by Prof. G. Coyle.
Mirroring part of what was included in the bibliography and reading list of the Master Program in SD in the University of Bergen:
Id also add some papers, such as Prof. John Stermans Skeptic guide to computer models, which gives SD its proper place as a tool for being used for the right type of problem; and other classic SD papers, many of them in the Road Maps series.
Id also include classic SD models, such as Prof Forresters Market Growth..., Prof Dennis Meadows Commodity cycle (hog production) model, the Keibab Plateau model and others that the colleagues would consider useful.
And Id try to include some experiential learning, using diverse resources, such as the Beer Game, the People Express Management Flight Simulator, and may be some simple introductory games which could be extracted from the Systems Thinking Playbook.
Did anybody mention the Introduction to Systems Thinking manual that comes with the software ithink ? Its very good.
And the list goes on...
Fortunately learning never ends.
Be well...
Fabian Szulanski
From: fabiansz@consultant.com
-
Bill Braun
- Senior Member
- Posts: 73
- Joined: Fri Mar 29, 2002 3:39 am
SD Self-Study Curriculum
I wish to advance my studies in SD. Being a small business owner precludes
me from taking time from work to attend classes. What would be your
recommendation for a self-study curriculum? Book titles and other
resources are appreciated. Any opinions on what I should study first, or
at least what you would consider "prerequisites", are appreciated.
I have read Principles of Systems and have done modeling in PowerSim. I
have in my library (but have not completely read):
Modeling for Learning Organizations, Morecroft & Sterman
Intro to Computer Simulation, Roberts, et al
Intro to SD Modeling with Dynamo, Richardson & Pugh
Study Notes in SD, Goodman
Elements of SD Method, Randers
Managerial Applications of SD, Roberts et al
I seem to have some good books here but I lack a coherent, structured
approach. I sense that I am particularly ill prepared from an algebraic
point of view. Your thoughts are much appreciated.
Bill Braun
From: Bill Braun <medprac@hlthsys.com>
me from taking time from work to attend classes. What would be your
recommendation for a self-study curriculum? Book titles and other
resources are appreciated. Any opinions on what I should study first, or
at least what you would consider "prerequisites", are appreciated.
I have read Principles of Systems and have done modeling in PowerSim. I
have in my library (but have not completely read):
Modeling for Learning Organizations, Morecroft & Sterman
Intro to Computer Simulation, Roberts, et al
Intro to SD Modeling with Dynamo, Richardson & Pugh
Study Notes in SD, Goodman
Elements of SD Method, Randers
Managerial Applications of SD, Roberts et al
I seem to have some good books here but I lack a coherent, structured
approach. I sense that I am particularly ill prepared from an algebraic
point of view. Your thoughts are much appreciated.
Bill Braun
From: Bill Braun <medprac@hlthsys.com>
SD Self-Study Curriculum
This is a response to Bill Brauns request for thoughts on self-study.
There are a number of possibilities. But, first your statement:
>I sense that I am particularly ill prepared from an algebraic
>point of view.
A facility with algebra is necessary for modeling. If you havent used
algebra, for awhile, you might want a refresher course. (Trigonometry
or Pre-calculus might do the trick). Courses at junior colleges on
these sorts of things are truly excellent -- the people who are
teaching, really want to teach and they do. There are also well written
math books available at places like Borders or Amazon.com for a truly
independent study.
Concerning books: Your choice of Principles of Systems is very good.
Of the other books you mentioned, I would pick out the Richards and Pugh
Intro to SD Modeling with DYNAMO. The book is exceptionally well
written and provides a well-structured, broad grounding in system
dynamics from the philosophical foundations to causal loop diagramming
to modeling. The one drawback to the book is that it uses DYNAMO, the
original system dynamics environment. This means you will need to
translate into the environment you are using (Powersim, I believe you
said). That may be a pain, but is hardly insurmountable -- the
equations that you write in Powersim will be mostly the same as those
given for DYNAMO. (Incidentally, DYNAMO is available from Pugh-Roberts
and has its loyal supporters, however it does lack a graphical front end
(you cannot define a model by "drawing" on the screen, but instead type
in equations)).
Elements of the SD Method is a very nice collection of essays. It makes
for good reading before bed, at the beach, or whenever you dont have a
computer handy.
You did not mention Forresters Industrial Dynamics. This book is a
classic. And covers some of the same ground as the Richardson and Pugh
book. Compared to Richardson and Pugh, Industrial Dynamics is not as
gentle an introduction and it does not emphasize feedback as much
(Industrial Dynamics does not contain any causal loop diagrams, which
may actually have been developed later -- I believe by Ed Roberts?). On
the other hand the book is written with Forresters usual extraordinary
clarity. And, it anticipates almost every development in the field
since. (In fact on my bluer days I wonder if there has been any
significant advance in SD since Industrial Dynamics).
Finally, there are a number of courses that might be doable even though
you have committments to your business. A number of consulting/software
firms offer short-courses (a couple of days to a week) in sytem dynamics
(High Performance Systems, Powersim, Ventana, Innovation Associates, GKA
among others). MIT offers a couple of short courses in SD as well as a
distance course by satellite and one over the Web. There are other
courses as well which, perhaps, others on the list could mention. The
newsletter the Systems Thinker (from Pegasus) provides dates and places
for the various short courses.
Regards,
Jim Hines
MIT and LeapTec
From: Jim Hines <jimhines@interserv.com>
There are a number of possibilities. But, first your statement:
>I sense that I am particularly ill prepared from an algebraic
>point of view.
A facility with algebra is necessary for modeling. If you havent used
algebra, for awhile, you might want a refresher course. (Trigonometry
or Pre-calculus might do the trick). Courses at junior colleges on
these sorts of things are truly excellent -- the people who are
teaching, really want to teach and they do. There are also well written
math books available at places like Borders or Amazon.com for a truly
independent study.
Concerning books: Your choice of Principles of Systems is very good.
Of the other books you mentioned, I would pick out the Richards and Pugh
Intro to SD Modeling with DYNAMO. The book is exceptionally well
written and provides a well-structured, broad grounding in system
dynamics from the philosophical foundations to causal loop diagramming
to modeling. The one drawback to the book is that it uses DYNAMO, the
original system dynamics environment. This means you will need to
translate into the environment you are using (Powersim, I believe you
said). That may be a pain, but is hardly insurmountable -- the
equations that you write in Powersim will be mostly the same as those
given for DYNAMO. (Incidentally, DYNAMO is available from Pugh-Roberts
and has its loyal supporters, however it does lack a graphical front end
(you cannot define a model by "drawing" on the screen, but instead type
in equations)).
Elements of the SD Method is a very nice collection of essays. It makes
for good reading before bed, at the beach, or whenever you dont have a
computer handy.
You did not mention Forresters Industrial Dynamics. This book is a
classic. And covers some of the same ground as the Richardson and Pugh
book. Compared to Richardson and Pugh, Industrial Dynamics is not as
gentle an introduction and it does not emphasize feedback as much
(Industrial Dynamics does not contain any causal loop diagrams, which
may actually have been developed later -- I believe by Ed Roberts?). On
the other hand the book is written with Forresters usual extraordinary
clarity. And, it anticipates almost every development in the field
since. (In fact on my bluer days I wonder if there has been any
significant advance in SD since Industrial Dynamics).
Finally, there are a number of courses that might be doable even though
you have committments to your business. A number of consulting/software
firms offer short-courses (a couple of days to a week) in sytem dynamics
(High Performance Systems, Powersim, Ventana, Innovation Associates, GKA
among others). MIT offers a couple of short courses in SD as well as a
distance course by satellite and one over the Web. There are other
courses as well which, perhaps, others on the list could mention. The
newsletter the Systems Thinker (from Pegasus) provides dates and places
for the various short courses.
Regards,
Jim Hines
MIT and LeapTec
From: Jim Hines <jimhines@interserv.com>
-
"John W. Gunkler"
- Junior Member
- Posts: 10
- Joined: Fri Mar 29, 2002 3:39 am
SD Self-Study Curriculum
Bill,
Having been where you are (small business owner, etc.) I would add one
resource to what others are suggesting:
Go to the Web site for the MIT System Dynamics In Education Project
(http://sysdyn.mit.edu/) and download the Road Maps series (1 through 9 so
far.) Work through them religiously, as if you had Jay Forrester watching
your every move, and youll be vastly rewarded. Best of luck.
From: "John W. Gunkler" <jgunkler@sprintmail.com>
Having been where you are (small business owner, etc.) I would add one
resource to what others are suggesting:
Go to the Web site for the MIT System Dynamics In Education Project
(http://sysdyn.mit.edu/) and download the Road Maps series (1 through 9 so
far.) Work through them religiously, as if you had Jay Forrester watching
your every move, and youll be vastly rewarded. Best of luck.
From: "John W. Gunkler" <jgunkler@sprintmail.com>